ASHBURNHAM HOUSE, WESTMINSTER.-As supplementary to the correspondence on the subject of Ashburnham House (see ante, p. 225), the following extract from the statement of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, given in the Times of the 16th ult., should appear. It may be allowed me to express a hope that the proposed transfer will not be allowed to take effect. The Council of the Archæological Institute has passed a resolution in support of the action of the Dean and Chapter.

"The house in question is built on the site and with the materials of an earlier edifice, once occupied by the Dean during the brief period in the reign of Henry VIII. when the Bishop of Westminster resided at the Deanery. The present building is said to have been erected by Inigo Jones for the Ashburnham family in the time of Charles I., and contains many traces of the skill of that celebrated architect. It was occupied by the Cotton Library, and later by Fynes Clinton. It was inhabited as a prebendal house by various canons of Westminster, among others by Dr. Bell, founder of the Lancastrian system; by Dean Milman, as Rector of St. Margaret; and by the late Sub-Dean, Lord John Thynne. This house, with its historical associations and its architectural decorations, is now for the first time threatened with destruction."

E. G. S.

[There is a good view of Ashburnham House in Smith's Westminster, drawn by himself in April, 1808, and entitled "Little Dean's Yard," adding, "This exhibits a part of Dr. Bell's house," &c. For very full accounts of the historical interest attaching to the house, see the Saturday Review for March 19 and the Athenaeum for April 2.1

For the double purpose

entitled to attention."
of showing that the name of Lyth still exists in
Yorkshire and the identification of an anonymous.
author this note may, perhaps, be worth insertion.
J. O.

CHURCHES INJURED BY FIRE.-Some time since

MR. WALFORD inquired for instances of the destruction of churches by fire. I have noticed in Fuller's "Hist. of Abbies" in Ch. Hist., bk. vi. p. 300, 1655, a list of thirteen abbeys which were at various times more or less injured by lightning. There is also mention in a note to Cassan's Lives of the Bishops of Winchester, vol. i. p. 416, note, Lond., 1827, of the following inscription on a pane of glass at Lambeth, written by Abp. Laud :

"Memorand: Ecclesiæ de Mitcham Cheam et Stonecum aliis fulgure combustæ sunt Januar: 14, 1638,9. Omen advertat [fort. avertat] Deus." ED. MARSHALL.

SUPERSTITION IN JAPAN.

"In the garden of the Shihan Gakko at Nakanoshima stands an old pine tree called Takonomatsu, among the roots of which a badger has taken up his abode. One of the residents in the vicinity had a dream lately in which the badger appeared. He announced that as the winter is very severe he has no food, and that if fried. bean cake and boiled rice mixed with red beans were placed at his disposal nightly, he would dispense wealth and prosperity among his benefactors. If, however, these modest requirements were not attended to, the houses in the ward would surely be destroyed by fire. The credulous people were much alarmed, and the wants of the badger are looked after very carefully."

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WEDDING POSY.-The above curious little story (translated from a The following is extracted from a letter written native paper) appears in the Japan Gazette of in 1748 by Matilda, widow of Matthew Postle- Feb. 8, 1881. W. H. PATTERSON. thwaite, Archdeacon of Norwich, and Rector of Denton in Norfolk, to her step-daughter Barbara, wife of Samuel Kerrich, Rector of Dersingham in the same county :

"Mr. Page (after courting upwards of twenty, young and old) is married to a young girl of 2 or 3 in twenty out of the Shires, the Motto of the wedding ring is in

Latin but this the English, I came, saw, conquered,' on
which the following lines are made:-

I came, saw, conquer'd, active Cæsar said,
But meant Rome's Foes, not the consenting Maid.
Could He have spoke of Cleopatra won
He would have said, I came, saw, was undone.
Least are Loves Triumphs when our Pride is most;
Who knows or loves like Cæsar scorns to boast."

A. H.
J. R. LYTH, BOOKSELLER, YORK.-On paying
a visit to York some years ago in search of literary
curiosities, I strolled into the dingy shop of W. R.
Lyth, and after some talk about books he produced
a pretty privately-printed volume as a specimen of
his own composition. The quiet style of the man
and the subject of the book induced me to become
a purchaser of The Author: a Poem in Four
Books, London, but York printed, 1854; upon
which a critic observes, "Much of the writer's
thinking and many of his observations are

Belfast.

"ANCHOR FROST."-In the neighbourhood of Muntford, Norfolk, an old man, speaking of the spring frost and the injury done to the wheat plant, called it an "anchor frost." This he explained by saying that the freezing began from below, setting fast the root of the plant; as the frost gradually rises it expands the earth and lifts the plant out of the ground, torn from its frozen roots. Forby explains the word "anchor," to hold like an anchor. The strong, tenacious, spreading roots of trees or plants are said to "anchor out." In the same neighbourhood when meadows are overflowed by the river they are spoken of as "bright." Forby does not mention this word, nor have I heard it in other parts of West Anglia. E. M. D.

EASTER: PARISH CLERKS.-In looking through an official MS. volume, formerly belonging to a Dortsetshire collector of excise, relating to the year 1775-6, I found one page headed thus :-"Beer Dealers and Retailers, Verjuice and Cyder Retailers, Occasional Vendors such as Parish Clarks at Easter." Unfortunately there are no entries. under this heading. See the passage quoted from

Stubbs in Bohn's edition of Brand's Pop. Ant.,
W. C. B.
1849, i. 280.
"HELIANTHOSEBEIA."-Allow me to record in
the pages of "N. & Q." the advent of an illus-
trious verbal stranger. The language is being
daily enriched by the progress of art and com-
merce. Of course I need not add that this last
accession to the stock means the worship of the
sunflower; and those who would learn the extent
and fervour of this æsthetic cult have only to walk
up Old Bond Street.
R. W. M. J.

LORD JEFFREY'S SECOND WIFE: JOHN ii. WILKES.-In Carlyle's Reminiscences, vol. pp. 34-5, one reads:

"This second [wife], the American Miss Wilkes, was from Pennsylvania, actual brother's daughter of our demagogueWilkes.' She was the sister of the Commodore Wilkes' who boarded the Trent some years ago." Is not this a mistake? Could John Wilkes have had a nephew commodore in the U.S.A. navy in the year 1861? From 1728 to 1861 is a very long period, and I am unaware how long the commodore may have lived after 1861. He would probably have been not more than fifty years of age in 1861. Was he not Wilkes's great-nephew? EDWARD R. VYVYAN.

Reform Club.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON AND THE CHAPMAN FAMILY. In the Gentleman's Magazine the two following obituary notices occur:—

"May 9, 1802, aged 73, Thomas Chapman, Gent. He was lineally descended from Sir Isaac Newton's own

sister, she being his grandmother."

"Sept. 5, 1813, aged 77, the wife of John Orton Garle, Gent., of Leicester, daughter of Newton Chapman, Gent., a near relation of the great Sir Isaac Newton."

The dates show that Newton Chapman, father of Mrs. Garle and apparently of Thomas Chapman, would probably be born about the year 1700, and it therefore seems likely that "grandmother" in the first obituary notice should read "greatgrandmother," for Sir Isaac Newton's two halfsisters (he had not an own sister") were born in 1647 and 1652. Will some correspondent of "N. & Q." kindly state how this relationship

66

between the Newtons and Chapmans comes about,
as it does not appear in the Newton pedigree
printed in Dr. Howard's Miscellanea Genealogici
et Heraldica, N.S., vol. i. p. 169, et seq.
7.?*
J. P. R.

A THEATRE AT HIGHGATE.-References to playbills or other sources of information as to the above place of amusement would be much esteemed, as I cannot find it alluded to in any local books. An old inhabitant of the village, now dead, told me that the building (which was of considerable size, containing boxes, pit, and gallery) stood on a portion of the Cholmeley School property in Southwood Lane, near the thoroughfare known as Castle Yard, and as important alterations are contemplated hereabout I should like to fix the exact spot. He also said he recollected attending the performances, which were very creditable and well patronized. I have seen two of the play bills, which are dated 1812 and 1816. The pieces performed were of a very ordinary character, and I do not recognize any of the names as those of actors of repute; but it occurs to me that, as Charles Mathews resided at Millfield Lane, Highgate, and Joseph Grimaldi at Finchley, about this time, they may have had something to do with this theatre.

A note as to the playbills referred to above. They were "from the press of H. Jackman, Highgate," from whom tickets were to be obtained "at the Castle Inn," and whose name appears, together with that of Mrs. Jackman, among the actors. Was this a private press, used only for the purposes of the theatre, or are any other and earlier productions known of this or any other press at Highgate ?

Grove Road, Holloway, N.

GEORGE POTTER.

AN OLD INVENTORY.-Among some family which have recently come into my papers possession I find a curious old inventory and valuation of furniture, &c., dated in the "three and thirtieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second," and appearing to have been prepared for purposes of probate. In it are many now obsolete descriptive terms, such as "joyned stooles," "Table Board & fframe," paire of Little Andirons," &c. They occur under the head of "In the Hall," while under the head of "In the Parlour" the word "Andirons" alone is used. But the word which has most attracted my

39.66

a

* I am able to correct a few errors in the pedigree

referred to. At p. 174, for "[Rev. Thomas Pilkington, b. Dec. 3, 1668, Vicar of Packington, near Ashby]," son of Mr. Thomas Pilkington, of Belton, and his wife Marie Smith, Sir Isaac Newton's elder half-sister, read "[George Pilkington, of Packington, near Ashby, Gent., baptized at Belton Jan. 4, 1672/3, died Sept. 21, 1754, and buried at Packington. M. J." Mr. George Pilkington's wife's name was Jane, and her father, Thomas Bate, Gent. (not Esq.), married Dorothy Oldershaw (not Oldenshaw).

attention is "Livery," in the description "Livery Board [ Broad] Cloth." In no dictionary to which I have easy access do I find any explanation, and I shall feel greatly obliged for an enlightenment of my ignorance. I may add that the document is written on a roll of parchment nine feet in length and five inches in width.

as descried in Pickwick, chap. xxv.? I take it
R. B. P.
to be a kind of hymn-book, but should be glad of
further particulars.

THOMAS DANIELL, R.A., 1749-1840.-I am
Such a list was, I am told,
anxious to find any list of paintings by this dis-
tinguished artist.
E. A. B.
given in some periodical prior to the year 1828
(probably between 1823 and 1827). Can any of
your readers assist me in finding it?

A KENTISH TRADITION.-I cut the following paragraph out of a recent number of the Bristol Observer :

"Kentish tradition has attributed the following to a facetious Jacobite, on occasion of the early death of some infant princess of the reigning house:

Little Goody Tidy

Was born on a Friday,

Was christened on a Saturday,

Ate roast beef on Sunday,

Was very well on Monday,

Was taken ill on Tuesday,

Sent for the doctor on Wednesday,

Died on Thursday,

So there's an end to little Goody Tidy."

Is anything known of this tradition as "Kentish"?
E. WALFORD, M.A.

Hampstead, N.W.

PALLET.

ARMS WANTED.-In a pedigree drawn up by Lawrence Cromp, York Herald, 1702, is a quartering of the Chichester coat of arms which he has left unnamed. It is Sable, a fess between three trees argent. Can any one kindly help me E. F. ST. LEGER. to identify it?

19, Bedford Circus, Exeter.

STEYNOUR: STAYNER: STAYNOR.-This name is given to grass closes in the borough of Nottingham and also in Wilford parish; in each case near G. F. word? the Trent. What is the origin or meaning of the

work.

Belfast.

ANTOINE LE LOUP.-Is anything known of this THE FIFE EARLDOM.-What, I shall be glad to artist? I have some small drawings of his in indian ink on vellum, representing views in know, is the correct form of this title in the peer-France or Belgium, apparently eighteenth century W. H. PATTERSON. age of Ireland? In his Peerage and Baronetage, 1871, p. 447, Sir Bernard Burke states in a footnote that the creation in the patent is "Earl Fife," not "Earl of Fife," but the general usage is certainly against him. In the same issue of the Peerage, p. 957, he speaks of "John Savage, second Earl of Rivers," and here undoubtedly there is a mistake. Accuracy in all things is much to be desired.

ABHBA.

PLANTS UNDER TREES.-What plants beside St. John's wort will grow under the drippings of trees? Flowering plants are especially meant.

HERMENTRUDE.

ST. KEW.-What is known of this Somersetshire saint? There is a little place two miles "QUERECHINCHIO."-In Locke's Essay (iii. vi. 9) from Weston-super-Mare called St. Kewstoke; also a St. Kew in Cornwall, near Wadebridge. HARRY HEMS.

there occurs this sentence :

"He that thinks he can distinguish sheep and goats by their real essences that are known to him may be pleased to try his skill in those species called cassiowary and querechinchio."

I should be glad to learn something about this last
word, and if any of your readers have come across
F. R.
elsewhere.

it

174, Portsdown Road, W. HERALDIC.-I have a book of 1714, bound in calf, and stamped on each cover with a foreign coat of arms— a lion passant guardant, the supporters two lions, and the coronet and helmet those of a foreign prince. The motto is FIDES. What is the meaning of "Fides Brientensium"? Is this the name of a family or of L. A. R. a place ?

BRIENTENSIVM.

"THE NUMBER FOUR COLLECTION."-What is the "number four collection" mentioned in the interrogatories administered by Mr. Samuel Weller to Mr. Job Trotter in the kitchen of Mr. Nupkins,

Exeter.

NAVAL DRESS.-At or about what period did in old prints? sailors leave off pigtails and skirts, such as are seen

ANCUS.

WOTE STREET, BASINGSTOKE.-In Basingstoke there is a street bearing this name, at the top of Three hundred which stands the Town Hall. years ago this hall was called the Motte Hall. Are wote and motte philologically connected?

H. G. C.

the advantage of the wind. Though it was not a
fixed localized object at all, yet it is conceivable
that it might have given name to a spot where it
was often seen and which was associated with its
use. But there is another object of like construction
which more naturally rises to the mind, and that is
a windmill. I take it that in the above instances
the coombe, the ford, the hill, the ferry, were each
and all characterized by the domination of a wind-
mill. And this I imagine to have been the origin
of the name of Windsor, which in A.-S. is Windles
ora and Windles ofra (see the forms in the Glos-
sarial Index to my Saxon Chronicles), i. e., the
bank or eminence of the windmill.
these examples of the range of the word in ques-
tion may interest some who have it in their power
to give us more particular information as to what
sort or sorts of tall grasses they are which the
people in North Lincolnshire, or in any other part,
love to call by the name of windlestraw.

Swanswick.

JOHN EARLE.

these words up in their recollection, and abstain
from guesses which, to my knowledge, excite an
extraordinary surprise in Germany, where phonetic
laws are duly regarded.

To go back to weed. I suppose there is no
reason why it might not be spelt weid; and, if so,
I do not see why it may not be at once connected
with the common verb weid, to go mad. Of course
this is properly a verb, formed by vowel-change
from the adjective wud or wod (English wood), mad,
But the true distinction between these
frantic.
parts of speech has long since been obscured,
and Jamieson actually gives weid as an adjective,
I suspect, accordingly,
"furious."
I hope that with the sense
that weid as a sub. is nothing but an incorrect use
of the verb, and that it implies "frenzy." If so,
it would easily be used to signify any violent, or
vehement, or sudden attack, such as used to be
access" in Old English. For though
called an
the adj. weid properly means mad or frantic, the
cognate Icelandic óthr often means no more than
violent, vehement, severe, and the like; and if it
can be granted that a weid onfa could mean a
violent attack (as I have no doubt it may at some
time have done), the word weid might easily be
used by itself to signify the same thing. The
corresponding German word is wüthen, verb, to
rage, rave, chafe; whence wüthend, raging, frantic ;
but the substantive wüther (lit. a weid-er) some-
times means nothing more than a tyrant or
tyrannical person, showing how much the force of
the word is occasionally weakened. But however
this may be, I claim to have advanced the matter
considerably by showing that the German words
weide and eingeweide cannot possibly have any-
thing to do with the matter; and I think it
would be a great advance in English philology if
every one could learn, once for all, that the Ger-
man and English systems of spelling are widely
different, and that whenever German and English
words are spelt alike, it will commonly be found
to be the case that it is just for that very reason
that they are unconnected. Prof. Max Müller
told us this many years ago, but it needs to be
repeated almost every week.

"WEEDS AND ONFAS" (6th S. iii. 87, 274).— If I cannot solve the word weed I can at least advance the solution of it. It is most distressing to see, week after week, impossible etymological suggestions being constantly proposed, simply because Englishmen in general are unaware that philology is a science possessing laws of its own, and that, just as botany or medicine requires previous training, so philology requires a knowledge of the use of letters. In the present case the word weed is doubtless Scotch or Northern English; but the English d corresponds to a German t (sometimes written th). This enables any one who knows the true use of letters to say confidently that the Scotch weed cannot possibly have anything to do with the German eingeweide, This is easily tested by nor yet with weide. taking a common word like wide; the corresponding German word is weit, with t. Again, not only have we sound-laws for consonants, but there are also such things as sound-laws for vowels; these are more subtle and difficult than the others, and scarcely any one seems ever to regard them, all important as they are. According to these, we may notice that the German weit corresponds to English wide, that is, that the German ei is commonly equivalent to English long i, so that, if the Scottish weed occurs in German, it will not, at any rate, have the diphthong ei in it. Hence the sole resemblance between English weed and G. weide and eingeweide is reduced to the fact that they both begin with w, and there all resemblance ends. We should hardly be warranted on such grounds in saying that the English verb to weet is allied to German weit, which is what the above suggestions amount to. It were much to be wished that the readers of "N. & Q." would lay

Cambridge.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

A TERRA-COTTA HEAD AND SHOULDERS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST BY DONATELLO (?) (6th S. iii. 247).--In the Retrospective Art Exhibition in the Trocadéro Palace, at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, were two small terra-cotta. busts, one of the infant Saviour, and the other of John the Baptist. The latter was a replica of the small bust described by MR. REES as in a curiosity shop at Bideford, North Devon; the only difference being that the Bideford bust has been painted in the Spanish manner, and the Trocadéro example was purely terra-cotta. Possibly