HANGING IN THE BELL-ROPES.-In looking over some old family letters, written upwards of a century ago, I came upon the following odd phrase in one of them. The writer, in speaking of his intended marriage, says-" So what so long has been hanging in the bell-ropes will at last be brought to a happy period." I do not remember to have ever met with this expression elsewhere. Has any reader of "N. & Q." ever heard it, and was it in use during the last century? JONATHAN BOUCHIER. MRS. LAWRENCE, OF WAVERTREE HALL, LIVERPOOL. This lady, a sister of the late General Sir Charles D'Aguilar, was an intimate friend of Mrs. Hemans, and well known in the literary circles of Liverpool forty years ago. She was herself author of several literary works, both original and translated-viz. 1. Goetz von Berlichingen, a drama translated from Goethe, 1799. 2. S. Gessner's Works, in three vols. translated from the German, 1802, published anonymously. 3. Last Autumn at a favourite Residence, &c. containing miscellaneous poems, 1829; a second edition in 1836 contains recollections of Mrs. Hemans, &c. &c. 4. Cameos, 1833, Liverpool; second edition, 1849. The object of my present inquiry is to ascertain whether Mrs. Lawrence is the author of a little anonymous volume containing Saul, a tragedy, translated from Alfieri, and Jephtha's Daughter, a drama, 1821, by a Lady. The profits for the benefit of the Bible Society. This little book was printed by McReery, of Liverpool, and published by Cadell, London, the printer and publisher of the translation of Gessner named above. Am I right in supposing the anonymous volume of 1821 was by the translator of Gessner's works published in 1802? Mrs. Lawrence died about the year 1858. Can any Liverpool correspondent give the exact date? I think Mrs. Lawrence had a son who was a clergyman in the Church of England, but I do not know whether any of her family are still resident in Liverpool. R. I. FRANCIS MERES.-Francis Meres, author of the Wit's Treasury, 1598, was made rector of Wing in Rutlandshire in 1602. He died in 1646. Is there any evidence extant as to how he obtained this rectoryship, through whose interest, &c.; and if not, what is the most likely place or book in which to search for information? HENRY FLOWER. 5, Carlton Terrace, Lower Park Road, Peckham. NORDEN'S "SURVEY OF KIRTON IN LINDSEY." I am extremely anxious to consult, for an antiquarian purpose, John Norden's Survey of the Manor and Soke of Kirton in Lindsey, co. Lincoln. It was taken in or about the year 1616. This great manor was, until very recent days, a part of the possessions of the Duchy of Cornwall. I am however informed, that this survey is not to be found among the records of the duchy. An abstract of it is preserved among the Moore MSS. in the Public Library at Cambridge. I think it is not probable that the original document has perished. If it exists in any of our public offices, or in private hands, I shall be very much obliged to anyone who will direct my attention to it. CORNUB. PAXTON FAMILY.-In what year was a Paxton, Esq., sheriff of Coventry? Where can an account of his family be found? and what were the names of his children, one of whom married the Rev. George Hughes, one of the ejected ministers ? She died at Exeter during the civil war. Is any stone or memorial to her memory extant; if so, in what church? GEORGE PRIDEAUX. Gregory Agrigent. "Non mihi sapit qui sermone, sed qui factis sapit." St. Ambrose. "Nulla ætas ad perdiscendum est." St. Cyprian. Queries with Answers. GEORGE HALYBURTON, BISHOP of Dunkeld.— I am desirous of ascertaining the relationship of the bishop to Professor Thomas Halyburton, of St. Andrews. The professor's father, George "Ad unum corpus humanum supplicia plura quam Halyburton, was of the family resident at Pitcur, membra." Boethius. "Da pater augustam menti conscendere sedem; Da fontem lustrare boni." Macrobius. "Bonæ leges malis ex moribus procreantur." Celsus. "Succurrendum parti maxime laboranti." M. W. Can any one supply me with the remainder of a passage beginning "Before thy sacred altar, Holy Truth, "Humility, the fairest, loveliest flower F. G. W. SHEKEL. I have a shekel of which I should be glad to know the probable age and value. It is apparently of somewhat the same type as that figured in Akermann's Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament, p. 7. The inscriptions are the same, viz., on the one side Spy, and on the reverse pn', except that the letters are not quite so ancient in form. The central portions, however, are considerably different. The vase is not so distinctly a vase, but might pass for an altar, and has smoke ascending from it; while on the opposite side, instead of a stalk with three flowers merely, there is a branch, apparently olive, with many twig's and leaves or flowers. The whole is in good preservation, and is about the size of a florin. GAMMA. THE GENEALOGY OF THE USSHER FAMILY.-I have good reason to know that the genealogy of this family, as given by the late Sir William Betham, and printed in Dr. Elrington's valuable Life of Archbishop Ussher (Dublin, 1848), is by no means accurate or complete; and also that your correspondent MR. LOFTUS TOTTENHAM has it in his power, and is well qualified, to correct what is wrong in the document, and to supply deficiencies. May I hope that he will favour the public with a proper genealogy of the family of one of the brightest ornaments of the Irish church? Авива. co. Angus, and married Margaret Playfair, and was minister of Aberdalgy, from which he was ejected in 1662" by his near kinsman the bishop." Your correspondent MARION made an inquiry in "N. & Q." (3rd S. i. 347) as to the family, but no precise information has yet been forthcoming. The Grove, Henley. JOHN S. BURN. [We have submitted this intricate point of family history to our valued correspondent MR. GEOrge Vere IRVING, who has kindly forwarded the following obser "I am afraid I can give you very little assistance as to this query. The principal's father, who was George Haliburton, minister of the united parishes of Aberdalgie and Dupplin, is sometimes referred to as the clergyman of one and sometimes of the other. (See Wodrow, Dr. Burns's edit. 1840, vol. i. p. 328, and vol. ii. p. 333.) He remained in the parish, but lived in great privacy in a house provided for him by Mr. George Hay, of Balhousie, Aberdalgie and Dupplin. This must have been in the latter parish, as his son is said to have been born there. From the last notice in Wodrow he appears, however, to have got into trouble again in 1676. "He first went to Aberdalgie as assistant and successor to a Mr. Playfair, whose daughter Margaret he married. Their son, the principal, was born in Dec. 1674. It would be an important point to ascertain if the principal was the first son of the marriage, or if he had an elder brother, who however might have died in infancy — the custom in Scotland being to name the eldest son after the paternal, and the second after the maternal grand father. "It is a most remarkable and curious fact that in Wodrow's list of ejected ministers George Haliburton is described as younger of Duplin. In the New Statistical Account of the united parishes, the following explanation is given: He was named junior to distinguish him from his cousin, minister of Perth, who, afterwards conforming, became Bishop of Dunkeld.' "Although cousins in Scotland is often used in a very extended sense, and although the two parishes are adjoining, so that some distinction was necessary, I think that the adoption of the word younger indicates a very near connection. "Lady Cowpar's letter about the bishop shows he was cousin also of the Pitcurs; but in those cases of intercession the so-called relationship is often more distant than the expression would now import. "The bishop's son was served heir to him in extensive properties in the counties of Forfar, Kincardine, and Perth. (Inquis. Spec., Nos. 423, 509, and 749 respectively.) As neither a Scotch bishop nor clergyman had large re venues at that time (nor indeed any time after the Reformation), it is almost impossible to conceive that he could have purchased these with his savings. They must, therefore, either have been conveyed to him by his father, or purchased with money derived from him. "From experience I know that our parish registers in Scotland are worth little till after the Revolution, having been kept on loose sheets; indeed, the presbytery records are full of injunctions to the Book Sessions to get bound books.-GEORge Vere IrviNG."] FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL IN ENGLAND.-I have seen it recently recorded that the first Sabbath school in Great Britain was formed by Mr. Robert Raikes in Gloucester in 1781: "As Robert Raikes walked out one day, The Golden Shower, p. 104. May I ask what is known of Mr. Raikes, and if it is true that he was the first to establish Sabbath schools in England? W. W. Malta. [Robert Raikes was born in 1735, and succeeded his father as a printer and editor of the Gloucester Journal. He received a liberal education, and prospered in trade. He formed a plan of bestowing upon the prisoners in gaols moral and religious instruction, and regular employment; but his greatest recommendation is, in conjunction with the late Rev. Thomas Stock, the institution of Sunday schools in 1781. He died at Gloucester, April 5, 1811, aged seventy-five years. Most recent biographical dictionaries give some account of him. Consult also the European Magazine, xiv. 315 (with portrait); xv. 350*; Gentleman's Magazine, vol. ci. (pt. ii.), pp. 132, 294, 391, and Joseph Ivimey's Memoir of William Fox, 18mo, 1831.] VULGATE BIBLE, 1491.-I have a copy of the Vulgate Bible, about the rarity and value of which I shall be glad if you or any of your correspondents can give me any information. It has no title-page, but seems in other respects quite complete and in good order, with old wooden boards. At the end of the Book of Revelation there is the following colophon (I do not give the contractions):— "Impensis attamen et singulari cura spectabilis viri Nicolai Keslers civis Basiliensis Anno Legis Novæ Millesimo quadringentesimo Nonagesimo primo. Nona Januarii." The first letter of each chapter is coloured. GAMMA. [This is the second edition of the Biblia Sacra Latina, printed at Basil by Nic. Kesler. The first edition appeared in 1487, and is described in Bibliotheca Sussexiana, vol. i. part ii. p. 338; and some account of the second edition is given by Panzer, Annales Typographici, i. 169, as well as by Masch, pt. ii. vol. iii. p. 134. Both editions are extremely rare.] Replies. SOLOMON AND THE GENII. (3rd S. xii. 46.) The stories of the pre-Adamite Jins, Peris, Divs, and Tacwins have come down to us through Jewish traditions. (Sale, Prelim. Dis. iv.) But the Koran and its commentators have something to say on the subject of Solomon and the Jins (Genii) or devils (ch. ii. p. 13; xxi. p. 270; xxvii. p. 310, Sale). In Surat, xxxviii. (p. 374, Sale), Allah says: "We also tempted Solomon and placed on his throne a devil in human form.". . ." We made the wind subject to him; it ran gently at his command, withersoever we directed. And we also put the devils under him and among them, such as were every way skilled in building, and in diving for pearls, &c." The Talmudists have the following fable of Asâf and Sakhar. (See Sale's note to the above quotation.) Solomon having taken Sidon, and slain the king of that city, brought away his daughter Jerâda, who became his favourite; and because she ceased not to lament her father's loss, he ordered the devils to make an image of him for her consolation; which being done, and placed in her chamber, she and her maids worshipped it morning and evening, according to their custom. At length Solomon, being informed of this idolatry, which was practised under his roof, by his vizir Asâf, he broke the image, and having chastised the woman, went out into the desert, where he wept and made supplications to God, who did not think fit, however, to let his negligence pass without some correction. It was Solomon's custom, while he eased or washed himself, to entrust his signet, on which his kingdom depended, with a concubine of his named Amina. One day, therefore, when she had the ring in her custody, a devil named Sakhar came to her in the shape of Solomon, and received the ring from her; by virtue of which he became possessed of the kingdom, and sat on the throne in the shape which he had borrowed, making what alterations in the law he pleased. Solomon, in the meantime, being changed in his outward appearance, and known to none of his subjects, was obliged to wander about and beg alms for his subsistence; till at length, after the space of forty days, which was the time the image had been worshipped in his house, the devil flew away, and threw the signet into the sea; the signet was immediately swallowed by a fish, which being taken and given to Solomon, he found the ring in its belly, and having by this means recovered the kingdom, took Sakhar, and tying a great stone to his neck, threw him into the lake Tiberias. (Talm. En Jacob, part ii, et Yalkut in Lib. Reg. p. 182; Al Beid. Jallal. Abu'lfeda.) T. J. BUCKTON. THE SONGS OF BIRDS. (3rd S. xi. 380.) Besides the works of Kircher and Bechstein, referred to by the editor and correspondents, I may mention that a very interesting and entertaining book called The Music of Nature, by Mr. Gardiner, appeared between thirty and forty years ago, in which this subject was treated on. The author converted into musical notation almost all the sounds under the sun, ranging from the inflexions and modulation of Edmund Kean's voice down to the bray of a donkey! If I recollect right, he also set to music the colours of the prism! No doubt his musical enthusiasm carried him great lengths. Nevertheless there is much that is noteworthy in the book. Having been myself musical from my very cradle, and having made long and frequent observations of the songs of birds, I have come to the decided conclusion that the natural songs of English birds (the only birds with which in a state of nature I am acquainted) are never capable of musical notation-are never, in fact, in tune with our musical scale. People may be startled by such an assertion, which is, in other words, that all birds sing out of tune. But I think that any musical man with what is commonly, but erroneously, called a good ear* for music, and also an ordinary amount of musical science, will, on trying the experiment, find that the intervals of birds' notes do not correspond with ours, and that they never sing according to any key corresponding with ours. I have carefully guarded my assertion by restricting it to natural song, and therefore it is hardly necessary to add that it does not relate to piping bullfinches, &c., which may be taught by their power of imitation to sing correctly in tune. My observations lead me to suppose that birds have not only great pleasure in singing, but some of them are endowed with not only a talent for imitation but also with a spirit of emulation. I have frequently listened for a length of time to a little robin imitating the cadences of a thrush in a neighbouring tree, repeating them with a fair degree of accuracy, and evidently straining its little throat (but in vain) to equal the superior power and richness of the larger bird. I have seen it remarked somewhere-very likely in that charming little book, White's Natural History of Selborne-that early in the season singing birds appear to be out of practice, and perform but poorly; but as the spring advances, and they exercise their voices, they improve in quality and execution. This observation I can confirm. I have heard a thrush (which I con * The musical faculty is undoubtedly an intellectual one-not depending on the external organ. Many musical geniuses, like Beethoven, have been stone deaf, and many unmusical people have the most acute hearing. sider the king of English feathered songsters) evidently practising his song with great care, and trying new cadences and variations, and very interesting it was to listen to the performance. The lark may be said to have the greatest execution, but the quality of the thrush's voice and its expression I think rank it as a whole above the fark. The blackbird's tone is good, but its song is monotonous. It will repeat the same strain without altering a note for a whole evening. The robin is a sweet and accomplished songster, and, considering its size, has plenty of power. Indeed the great distance to which birds with their tiny throats can send their sweet songs shows a construction of their organ as one of the most wonderful of the numberless wonderful works of the Almighty. M. H. R. DOCTOR WOLCOT. (3rd S. xi. 450, 526; xii. 39.) In the English Encyclopædia (Biogr.) vol. vi. p. 781, I find it stated that, before leaving England with Sir W. Trelawney for Jamaica," Wolcott (sic) procured the degree of M.D. from the University of Aberdeen." The same paragraph adds that, "having his hopes of a lucrative practice in Jamaica dispelled," "Dr. Wolcott proceeded to England, and was ordained by the Bishop of London." If this account of the English Cyclopædia be correct, it sets at rest MR. MACKENZIE WALCOTT'S doubt of Peter Pindar's medical degree; and also invalidates the statement which E. S. D. has quoted from the memoir prefixed to the works of Peter Pindar in 4 vols. 12mo, 1809. Also, it leads me to conclude that Wolcot was spelt indifferently with a single or a double t, although the latter shocks MR. WALCOTT'S accuracy. In Rose's Biographical Dictionary (vol. xii. art. "Wolcott"), it is stated that he graduated M.D. at Aberdeen, and further, that on his return from Jamaica he took orders. In Chambers' Cyclopædia of English Literature (vol. ii. p. 78) it is stated distinctly that "the Bishop of London ordained the graceless neophyte, and Wolcot entered upon his sacred duties.' My own edition of the Doctor's poems is a quarto of the date 1787. It has no preface or introduction, nor can I hit upon any internal evidence bearing upon the question at issue. But this at least may be said, that there is a consensus of authority that the Doctor was an Aberdeen M.D., and not a soi-disant doctor; also, that the error of spelling, if it be one, into which I fell in my first reply to a query, is one which such accurate men as Rose and C. Knight have shared with me. J. B. DAVIES. Moor Court, Kington. In the Dictionary of Universal Biography, edited by John Francis Waller, Esq., there is an article on Wolcott (spelt with two t's) by Mr. Francis Espinasse, in which it is stated that After a course of schooling in various places, diversified by a year's residence in Normandy, he removed to Fowey in Cornwall, where a kind uncle, a medical man, who had already defrayed the expenses of his education, adopted him as his heir, and brought him up to his own profession. . . . He was anxious to see the world, and at his request his uncle persuaded Sir William Trelawney, appointed governor of Jamaica, to take Wolcott with him. On his arrival in Jamaica he practised medicine, and-strange episode in the history of such a man-he actually went to England, and was ordained by the Bishop of London, that he might accept a cure of souls in Jamaica. The duties of his new charge were, of course, but indifferently performed, and after the death of the governor of Jamaica, Wolcott returned to England. . After various ineffectual attempts to obtain a medical practice in Cornwall, he removed to London." In Chambers' Cyclopædia of English Literature, vol. ii. p. 78, it is said that "Wolcot's (with one t here) uncle, a respectable surgeon and apothecary at Fowey, took the charge of his education. He was instructed in medicine, and walked the hospitals' in London, after which he proceeded to Jamaica with Sir William Trelawney, governor of the island, who had engaged him as his medical attendant. His time being only partly employed by his professional avocations, he solicited and obtained from his patron the gift of a living in the church, which happened to be then vacant. The Bishop of London ordained the graceless neophyte, and Wolcot entered upon his sacred duties. . . . Bidding adieu to Jamaica and the church, Wolcot accompanied Lady Trelawney to England, and established himself as a physician at Truro." Mr. Espinasse says that there is a copious memoir of Wolcot in the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1820. If E. S. D. will refer to this, he will probably obtain the information he is seeking as to whether or no Peter Pindar really took orders. JONATHAN BOUCHIER. but there is no notice again of any graduation. He also says that "Wolcot had scarcely qualified for the office" [a colonial living], "when he resigned it." The Scots' Magazine (iv. 192) and Mr. Cyrus Redding spell his name with one t; the European Magazine gives two ts. The one ascertained fact remains that MR. DAVIES should have written Wolcot or Wolcott, not Walcott. MACKENZIE E. C. WALCOTT, B.D., F.S.A. Memoirs of persons written during their lifetime are seldom of much value. Little confidence can, I think, be placed in the memoir prefixed to Peter Pindar's works, 1809. The language of the extract given by E. S. D. shows clearly that Dr. Wolcot himself could not have sanctioned it. Moreover, it is exceedingly improbable that a member of the household of the Governor of Jamaica would have been permitted to act in a manner so irregular as stated in the memoir. The following passage from an article on Dr. Wolcot in the Penny Cyclopædia is very circumstantial: "Before leaving England, Wolcot procured the degree of M.D. from the University of Aberdeen. The Incumbent of a valuable living in the island being dangerously ill, the Governor suggested to his young friend that he might obtain preferment in the Church. Wolcot upon this hint proceeded to England, and was ordained by the Bishop of London; but on his return the clergyman whom he was to succeed had recovered, and he was obliged to remain contented with the curacy of Vere." The authority for this article is stated to be the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1820. Dr. Wolcot was certainly not an estimable, but he was a remarkable man, and the question which has been raised with regard to his ordination ought to be settled. The only way to do so authoritatively, is to examine the records of ordinations in the diocese of London. Perhaps some of your readers have access to them, and will do this. H. P. D. 66 He The variations in statement with regard to "Peter Pindar" in the notes of several of your correspondents, and their reference to different authorities for their different statements, may be settled by turning to the Annual Biography, 1819, in which periodical is a memoir, evidently drawn He was, as the Gentleman's Magazine states, up by an intimate friend, after Wolcot's decease. John Wolcot, M.D., painter and poet." obtained a doctor's degree (1767) at Aberdeen in Scotland, and in the same year went with Sir William Trelawney to Jamaica, and at his decease returned to Cornwall and practised as a physician. He never "took orders," i. e. was not ordained by a bishop of the church in England, though he might have officiated clerically in Jamaica from the want of clergy in that island. In 1780 he |