Queries with Answers. RADNORSHIRE RHYME. - The following old rhyme may be worth preserving. There are, I believe, different versions of it. I was reminded of it by a statement which appeared lately, in one of the London newspapers, to the effect that there is not a single titled person resident in Mon LONGEVITY OF INCUMBENTS. In "N. & Q." 1st S. xi. 407, you gave some particulars of the Rev. Potter Cole, who was Vicar of Hawkesbury, near Tetbury, during a period of seventy-two years, which many people considered an incumbency of longer duration than any upon record; however, upon perusing an old Magazine, I have found one stated to have been held for a much longer series cf years by the Rev. Thomas Samp-mouthshire: son, who was minister of Keym, or Keyham, near Leicester, for ninety-two years, and who was buried there August 4, 1655. Various details are given that appear to verify this statement, which is moreover authenticated by the inspection of the register on February 28, 1743, by the Rev. Juxon. Still it is rather extraordinary, and I trust some reader of " N. & Q." will ascertain if this account is correct, and favour us with the result of his investigation. - "Item, a piece of Crystal Sexangular (as they grow all), grasping divers several things within it, which I bought among the Rhætian Alps, in the very place where it grew. Did this possess any of the marvellous properties laid claim to by the ball of which Admiral Belcher ran foul? W. BOWEN ROWLANDS. THOMAS, DUKE OF NORFOLK.-This prince was the eldest son of Edward I., by his second wife, Marguerite of France. How many times was he married, and who were his wives? Alice Halys is given as the name of his wife, I think, in all genealogies; but some add a second wife, Margaret de Ros; and I have seen mention of a third, named Maude, whose surname is not given. Who was she? And is it a fact that the Duke was thrice married? HERMENTRUde. ELIJAH RIDINGS.-Can any reader of "N. & Q." give me any information regarding Elijah Ridings, author of The Village Muse, &c.? ZETA. ST. GERMAIN.-Can you tell me what were the armorial bearings of the French family of St. Germain ? MELETES. SUGAR-TONGS LIKE A STORK.-There are foreign sugar-tongs (are they German or Danish ?) in the form of a stork. They open scissor-wise, and contain in a small hollow inside the body of the bird a swaddled bambino about the size of a house fly. Are they Christmas gifts, or christening presents? or are they merely allusive to the stork bringing the baby, which is, I believe, the German nursery folk lore on that subject? P. P. "In Radnorshire, Is neither Knight nor Peer, Nor park with deer, Nor gentleman with five hundred a year, [We believe the correct version of this epigram, which was invented in the early part of the eighteenth century, is as follows: "There is neither a park nor a deer The person here complimented at the expense of his neighbours was Sir William Fowler, Bart., of Harnage Grange, Shropshire, who built the present parish church of Abbey Cwm-Hîr in 1680. He was high sheriff of Radnorshire in 1696, and was created a baronet in 1704. We suspect the above epigram dates from that periodsay about the year 1710-when, in the language of a contemporary political ballad,— "The furiosas of the Church Came foremost with the wind; We need scarcely add that, contemporary with the Radnorshire house of Fowler (and the majority of them more ancient than his), were those of Robarts, Earls of Radnor; Harley, Earls of Oxford; the Cornewalls, baroBoultibrook, also knights; and, among the untitled gennets; Howarths, many of them knights; the Jones's of try, the Lewis's of Harpton (whence the late lamented Sir G. C. Lewis); the Mynors of Evan Coed; the Lloyds, the Walshes, and the Gwynnes- all of them quite as opulent as their fellow-countryman, Sir William. But days of Queen Anne, has been, as was once remarked of he, belonging to the High Church party in the roistering Swift," absolutely damned by the praises of his friends!" With respect to Monmouthshire, our correspondent appears to have forgotten that the Duke of Beaufort, and Lords Tredegar, Llanover, and Ragland, are titled personages possessing residential properties there, and we know not how many more besides.] JACOB'S STAFF.- PROFESSOR DE MORGAN, in his learned article "On the Derivation of the word Theodolite," observes: "This Theodelite, whether Digges's or Hopton's, was in fact the thing well known as the Astrolabe; and this is the name Bourne (in his Treasure for Travailers, 1578,) gives it. The Astrolabe seems to have become a Theodelite when it became a terrestrial instrument." The above suggests to me the Query: What is the origin of the old English name of this same instrument, viz. Jacob's Staff? It reminds me also that, in my collections for illustrating Abp. Leighton's Works, I have a note on this word. After "The Jacob's Staff, to measure heights and lands, "The Jacob's Staff" is here used to denote the Astrolabe, both celestial and terrestrial. At p. 299 of the same poem, Du Bartas mentions the Astrolabe, and speaks of it as a purely celestial instrument. In the characters of Sir Thos. Overbury, the Jacob's Staff is connected with the heavens alone. Of the "almanack maker," it is said: "His life is upright, for he is always looking upward; yet he dares believe nothing above' primum mobile, for 'tis out of the reach of his Jacob's Staff." The word seems to be still in use in Ireland; for, in the " Advartaaisement" for a hedge-schoolmaster, given in Carleton's sketch of The Hedge School, among the qualifications required, we find Surveying, and the use of the Jacob-staff." 66 EIRIONNACH. [For applying this term to the instrument used in taking altitudes, various reasons have been assigned. The Catholic explanation is, that the divisions marked upon the instrument resembled the steps of Jacob's ladder (Gen. xxviii. 12): “On l'appelait, dit-on, baton de Jacob, parceque les divisions marquées sur le montant resemblaient aux degrés de l'échelle mystérieuse de Jacob."-Encyc. Cathol., under "Baton."] AGRICOLA'S VICTORY. - Can any of your correspondents inform me on what authority the inhabitants of Aberdeen state that the victory of Agricola over Galgacus (A. D. 85) took place on the hills in the immediate neighbourhood of that town? Tacitus (Agric. 29) merely says, "(Agricola). . . ad montem Grampium pervenit," which would seem more likely to have occurred farther south. U. C. [We are at a loss to conceive what authority the Aberdonians have for concluding that Agricola vanquished Galgacus in the immediate vicinity of their town. Ancient as the latter is, the earliest notice of it occurs in the geographical work of Claudius Ptolomeus (ii. 3, § 19), where it is distinguished by the name of Devana (Anoúava), the chief city of the Texali or Taezali, and Ptolomy flourished a century, at least, later than the Roman conqueror. The exact locality of the conflict ("ad montem Grampium") between the Caledonians and the Romans has been a vexed question from the days of Richard of Cirencester to our own, and likely to be so to the end of time. This is owing to the error which Tacitus commits in the map which he made of the country, wherein a range of Grampians "montes Grampii " appears in a part of Scotland where there are no hills of any kind, at least in the present day. Some maintain, therefore, that the battle in question was fought at Stonehaven, in Kincardineshire, fifteen miles south by west of Aberdeen; others in the Lomond hills in Fife; and others again, in the Grampian range at the head of Forfarshire. In fine, every antiquary follows his own whim in the matter; all controversy, therefore, is profitless.] SANDTOFT REGISTER. — In 1634, or the following year, a chapel was built at Sandtoft, in the parish of Belton, in the Isle of Axholme, for the use of the Flemish and Dutch settlers, who were then engaged in draining the level of Hatfield Chase, and cultivating the reclaimed lands. At this place the various ordinances of religion were performed in the French and Dutch languages. The register of the chapel was carefully kept from 1641 to 1681. It was examined by the late Mr. Hunter when he was engaged collecting the materials for his History of South Yorkshire. Where is it now? I am anxious to consult it for an antiquarian purpose. EDWARD PEACOCK. Bottesford Manor, Brigg. [The Sandtoft register was a portion of the manuscript collections of George Stovin, Esq., of Crowle. When Joseph Hunter, in 1828, wrote his History of South Yorkgrandson, the Rev. Dr. Stovin, Rector of Rossington. In shire, Stovin's collections were in the possession of his 1839, when the Rev. W. B. Stonehouse published his History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme, these documents belonged to Cornelius Hartshorn Stovin, Esq., of Hirst Priory. Mr. Stonehouse, in his useful work, has not only given a biographical account of the Stovin family, but also at pp. 355-357, a list of the names of the French and Walloon Protestants settled at Sandtoft in the seventeenth century.] COCKPIT. In Mr. Wilberforce's Life, vol. i. p. 190, he states that, on Dec. 3, 1788, he "reached London, and attended cock-pit at night." A young friend having inquired of me what this meant, the most I could do was to assure her that it could not be to see a cock-fight. Would you kindly enlighten us? C. W. B. [The Cockpit was at Whitehall. After the fire here in 1697, it was converted into the Privy Council Office, and Earl of Oxford. The Treasury Minutes, circ. 1780, are here, in the Council Chamber, Guiscard stabbed Harley, headed" Cockpit."-Cunningham's London.] Replies. WONDERFUL ANIMAL. (3rd S. iii. 387.) The animal, as inferred by Dr. O'Donovan, must certainly have been a camel or dromedary, but that, in my opinion, is the least wonderful part of the matter. The great wonder is, from what place was this "Wonderful Animal sent to Ireland by Henry VI., A.D. 1472"? Henry, as is well known, having died in the previous year, to say nothing of his deposition some ten years earlier. Without pursuing that inquiry, however, it may be concluded that the king of England who sent an animal to Ireland in 1472 could be no other than Edward IV. As a not uninteresting point in English history, I should not pass without mention the fact that Henry VI. had a short period of restoration to the throne immediately preceding his death. The first instrument issued in his name, after his restoration, is dated the 9th of October, 1470, and thus attested: "Teste meipso apud Westmonasterium, nono die Octobris, anno ab inchoatione regni nostri quadragesimo nono, et readeptionis nostræ regiæ potestatis anno primo." Indeed all documents issued by Henry, at this period, are attested in the same words, his restored reign not lasting a year; for the battle of Barnet, fought in April, 1471, hurled him from the throne, and he was put to death about a month afterwards. His last instrument extant is dated the 27th March, 1471.* The querist asks, in reference to the wonderful animal being in Ireland, " to whom was she sent, and why? questions most difficult to answer, though a very probable explanation of the strange beast's presence in Ireland may easily be given. In the olden time, kings possessed a kind of prescriptive right of being the sole possessors of wild beasts and other wonderful animals, which were frequently presented by one crowned head to another. But such appendages of royalty being less useful than ornamental, more expensive than profitable, monarchs used to let them out to speculators for certain sums of money, the hirers profitably reimbursing themselves by exhibiting the animals in various parts of the country. These speculators received also from the king letters of license, authorising them to wear the royal livery; to beat a drum; to exhibit the animals in fairs, markets, and borough-towns, free of local taxes; to impress horses, wains, ships for their conveyance; to claim and obtain aid and protection, in their lawful pursuits, from all magistrates, constables, borough-reeves, &c. &c. The custom of hiring out royal animals to exhibitors continued down to our own times, and without doubt was the origin of showmen placing the royal arms over their booths and bill-heads, and wearing the cast-off uniforms of beef-eaters. It is most probable, then, or, indeed, it may be considered certain, that the wonderful animal belonged to the king, and was brought to Ireland for the purpose of exhibition; and that the word "sent" was a slight misconception of the annalists, caused by the exhibitor holding the king's license, usually given to such persons. WILLIAM PINKERTON. "The Beautiful Vanella," to whom Johnson's lines refer, and whose conduct was the theme of the playwrights of the time, as well as of poets and historians, was the daughter of Gilbert, Lord Barnard, and sister to the first Earl of Darlington. She was maid of honour to Queen Caroline, whose consideration procured for her apartments in St. James' Palace for her confinement, where was born her son, who on June 17, 1732, was christened by the name of Fitz-Frederick of Cornwall.* Lord Baltimore, one of the Lords of the Bedchamber of Frederick Prince of Wales, was sent to Vanella to say how necessary it was, the treaty for his marriage being then nearly concluded, for the prince to take his leave of her; and as the most proper manner of parting, that she should go immediately for two or three years to Holland and France; this she refused, but shortly afterwards, by the advice of her brother, she took herself to Bath, where she finished her unhappy life,† not without suspicion of having poisoned herself. Her son predeceased her a few days, and Lord Hervey relates that the "Queen and Princess Caroline told him they thought the prince more afflicted for the loss of this child than they had ever seen him on any occasion." The following lines have reference to Vanella: Man, who rejoices in the sex's weakness, Her life was like the morning rose, Anne Vane, who was disappointed in her object of marrying Lord Lincoln, was the daughter of Henry, first Earl of Darlington. Born in May, 1726, she was in her nineteenth year when she wrote the touching verses (quoted by W. D.), dated on the day of Lord L.'s marriage with her cousin, Catherine, eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Henry Pelham, Chancellor of the Exchequer. By this marriage, Lord L. ultimately acquired the large possessions of the Holles family, and the ducal coronet held by his descendants. Anne Vane married, in March 1746, the Hon. Charles Hope Weir of Craigie Hall, son of Lord Hopetown. HENRY M. VANE. MISS VANE: "DISAPPOINTED LOVE." W. D. would appear to have fallen into an error, owing to a confusion of names. Anne Vane, * See Fœdera, vol. xi. GUERIN DE MONTAIGU. I think it will be difficult to show that Moréri is correct in saying, that the Earls of Salisbury *Gent. Mag. vol. ii. 1782. Ibid. vol. vi. 1736. Ibid. vol. vi. 1736, pp. 112, 168. were of the line (trunk, or souche,) of Guérin de Montaigu of Auvergne. but in none do I know of a descent from the Guérins, or rather the Guerinis of Auvergne. Moréri does not say that Drogo himself was descended from a Guerini: at all events Drogo, the Norman, is the origin of the Montacutes and Montagus of whom I have spoken. There had been two D'Evreux Norman Barons of Salisbury since the Conquest, when Stephen raised a third successor to be earl. This earl was succeeded by his son, whose daughter and heir (Ela), on marrying William de Longespee, na- Some of the baronies, held by heirs of Drogo, tural son of Henry II., took with her estate the have fallen into abeyance. That of Montacute is title of Earl to her husband. The great grand- claimed by Mr. Lowndes of Whaddon; that of daughter of the latter was commonly called Coun- Monthermer, by Mr. Lowndes of Chesham. Both tess of Salisbury; and by her husband, Henry de of these gentlemen must have been looking up Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, became the mother of two pedigrees. Do they know anything of the Guesons, who died early; and also of that strong-rinis of Auvergne as the souche of the Montacutes, minded, loose-principled Alice, concerning whom descendants of Drogo, the Norman ? S. S. puts a Query, at p. 27, I shall rejoice to see answered. The next Earl of Salisbury was one by creation, not descent. There was a Norman, Drogo de Montacute, who came over with the Conqueror. His grandson was the first Baron of Montacute. Five barons by tenure enjoyed this title; and these were followed by three barons by writ, lineal descendants of the Norman Drogo. The last of these barons was created Earl of Salisbury by Edward III. This was the earl who lost an eye in the Scottish wars, and who exercised the other in actively ogling the ladies. His third successor was the earl who fell at Orleans, leaving no heir but a daughter, who married Richard Nevill; and who, on her having promise of a child, enabled Richard to call himself Earl of Salisbury, in which he was confirmed by patent. Their son, the famous Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, left two daughters; of whom the elder married "Malmsey Clarence," who was styled Earl of Salisbury, and all of whose honours became forfeited. But the title of Earl of Salisbury was then conferred on the short-lived son of the Duke of Gloucester (afterward Richard III.), by Lady Anne, the other daughter of the famous Warwick. This earl (a Prince of Wales too), of course, left no heirs; but the Duke of Clarence left a son Edward, and a daughter Margaret. The luckless boy was better known by the title of Warwick than of Salisbury. His luckless sister was created Countess of Salisbury in 1513; and, widow of Sir Richard Pole, fell on the scaffold in 1541. Sixty-four years later, the title of Earl of Salisbury was conferred on the Hunchback Cecil; of whose line the seventh successor is now Marquis of Salisbury. But in Margaret Pole the Norman line of Drogo de Montacute expired-as far as the Wiltshire earldom went. The blood of the Norman has not died out in another branch. The youngest brother of John, third Earl of Salisbury, lineally descended from Drogo de Montacute, was Sir Simon Montacute, the common ancestor of the late Duke of Montagu, the late Earl of Halifax, and of the present Duke of Manchester and the Earl of Sandwich; J. DORAN. Before proceeding to answer the question proposed by your correspondent who writes from Caen, respecting a supposed connection between the family of Montacute, Earls of Salisbury, and the house of Guérin de Montaigu (for which Eugénie de Guérin vouches the authority of Moréri), it struck me that it would be well in the first instance to ascertain precisely what it is that Moréri has stated. For this purpose I have referred to his dictionary, but I have not succeeded in finding the statement attributed to him. My edition is the fourth, published in 1687. Some statement of the kind may perhaps have found its way into a later edition; but if so, Moréri, who died in 1680, is not answerable for it. In order to facilitate further inquiry, perhaps your correspondent will have the kindness to verify the reference made by Eugénie de Guérin ? MELETES. EXCHEQUER: OR EXCHECQUER-CHEQUE. (3rd S. iv. 43.) Since addressing to you my "Note" and "Query" under the above heading, a friend has drawn my attention to Madox's History of the Exchequer of the Kings of England, London, 1711. I find in chap. iv. p. 109— "III. It is not absolutely certain from what original the word Scaccarium" (whence Exchequer) "is deduced. Divers conjectures have been made about it. Perhaps the most likely derivation of it is from Scaccus or Scaccum, a Chess Board, or the ludus Scaccarum, the game of chess; a game of great antiquity. And the Exchequer of England was in all probability called Scaccarium, because a chequered cloth (figured with squares like a chess board) was anciently wont to be laid on the table in the place or court of that name. In truth a chequered cloth itself was sometimes called Scaccarium. From the Latin scaccarium cometh the French Eschequier, or Ex- "The Exchequer which is Fiscus principis or Ærarium publicum; and I cannot tell in what language it is called Scaccarium. Some think it was first called Statarium," &c. &c. Then Skene, De Verbor. Signific. ad verbum Scaccarium, says: "Others think Scaccarium is so called a similitudine ludi scacchorum, that is, the Playe of the Chesse; because mony persones convienes in the checker to pleye their causes contrare others, as gif they were fechtand in ane arrayed battell, quhilk is the form and order of the said playe." And Dufresne, Gloss. ad vocem Scaci, remarks: "From what original the word Scaccus comes, it is not certain. Some have supposed it comes from the Arabick or Persick word Schach: by which name the chief actor in the game of chess is called." It will thus be seen that, centuries ago, wiser heads than mine were puzzled to determine the precise derivation of Scaccarium, or Eschequier, or Exchequer. The learned are generally agreed as to the connection between the court of the King's Treasury and the pattern of a chess-board or the sign of the chequers; but they give us no reason for it. Worthy Maister Skene is amusingly far-fetched; Sir Tho. Smith seems somewhat to the statarium hypothesis; but Dufresne, I think, gets a nearer inkling of truth when he surmises that Scaccus may be of Arabic or Persian extraction. But why not from the Italian Zecca, as from the oriental Schach? to incline GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. The only thing I can add to MR. SALA's interesting "half note and half query," as he calls them, on the Exchequer, is the fact that the table cover on the table of the Exchequer Court in Dublin is composed of a thick woollen substance, made in squares of black and white, resembling a chess-board. S. REDMOND. Liverpool. HORSE POLICE (3rd S. iv. 36.)-I am much indebted to M. L'EDITEUR DE MAURICE ET D'EUGÉNIE DE GUÉRIN for pointing out the "singular general," alluded to by Wolfe. His name has enabled me to learn more about Rantzau, from the pages of Biographie Universelle. Although the solution of what seemed to some of my friends to be an enigma was easy to M. L'EDITEUR, probably the Query would have remained unan swered if "N. & Q." were confined to English readers. In another letter (dated Aug. 1753), Wolfe, alluding to the frequency of highway robberies in the neighbourhood of Blackheath, says :— "I am surprised that, in the counties near London, they don't establish a company or two of Light Horse to guard the public roads, or pursue these vermin. They need not be military, but people hired for that purpose, with good pay, and entirely under the Sheriff's directions. There are abundance of officers that would be glad of such employment; and proper men, if they pay them well, might easily be found. They have what they call the Maréchaussée in France, to protect travellers; and people travel there in great security." I now desire to learn, through your useful columns, when the horse patrol, or county constabulary, was first established in England? with, if possible, a reference to some authority upon the subject. May I add that, having collected a great number of Wolfe's unpublished letters, I shall feel much obliged to any of your correspondents who may supply me with copies of others? I have reason to think that there are some more of Wolfe's original letters in the hands of autograph collectors, who would willingly contribute to what has long been considered a desideratum-a complete ROBT. WRIGHT. "Life of General Wolfe." 102, Great Russell Street, W.C. THEODOLITE (3rd S. iv. 51.)—I have read PROderivation of Theodolite. FESSOR DE MORGAN'S Note and Query about the On that matter I can give no certain opinion; but I have very little doubt that it is a corruption of some Arabic name for such an instrument. I have, however, in my possession a very curious instrument made in Germany in 1587, which I have always considered to be a theodolite, perhaps the earliest extant. It is formed on the principle of the astrolabe, and seems calculated to measure angles both vertical and horizontal, besides doing various other curious things. I should very much like PROFESSOR DE MORGAN to see it. The only day I shall have at my command after this appears in print will be Monday the 27th of this month; and if he could do me the favour to call on me some time before two o'clock on that day, should he be in London and disengaged, he will give me much pleasure and confer a favour on me. |