mottled granite as a rule detracts from the letters. If the tablet referred to is not in good taste or of good material, it should not be associated with the name of Della Robbia. Some of the oldest remains of the handiwork of man that are to be found are in terra-cotta. It is said in some cases to be almost our only link with nations of the most remote antiquity. There are a number of firms making excellent terra-cotta work. Several specimens I have seen recently of Messrs. Doulton are of a very high order. CHARLES GREEN. 18, Shrewsbury Road, Sheffield. I owe it to the interests of accuracy to correct a slight error in my communication at p. 313. Since that note was penned I have discovered that Mr. Gladstone also contributed a short article headed 'The Greater Gods of Olympus' to 'N. & Q' of 18 June, 1887 (7th S. iii. 489). The article is signed from Dollis Hill, and is a reply to one of MR. J. CARRICK MOORE (7th S. iii. 403) criticizing Mr. Gladstone's article in the Nineteenth Century of the preceding March. J. B. MCGOVERN. St. Stephen's Rectory, C.-on-M., Manchester. "BE THE DAY WEARY," &C. (9th S. v. 249). It is certainly a reproach to the Irish professors that they were not able to locate the well-known couplet of Stephen Hawes, which occurs in his 'Pastime of Pleasure,' 1517. The context, as it stands in the edition of 1555, is as follows: The end of Joye and all prosperite Is deth at last, through his course and myght; Cap. xlii. (Percy Soc. ed., p. 207). The last two lines, I may point out, after the manner of Father Prout, are merely a translation of two verses by a little-known Latin poet : Quantumvis cursum longum fessumque moratur Sol, sacro tandem carmine Vesper adest. The sentiment seems to have been a favourite one with Hawes. In cap. xvi. (p. 75) occurs the following: Joy cometh after, whan the payne is past. S. Woodford. These lines still retain their interest, for inquiries respecting their authorship, have appeared in every series of N. & Q.' from the third to the ninth. There are several So variants, but no authoritative version. far as can be traced they first appeared in the 'Pastime of Pleasure,' by Stephen Hawes, 1517, and were used by George Tankerville, in August, 1555, when preparations were made for his death. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. FRENCH STANZA (9th S. v. 357).--The author is Alfred de Musset. The last four lines are: Tout s'en va comme la fumée; L'espérance et la renommée, Et moi qui vous ai tant aimée, Et toi qui ne t'en souviens plus. Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, &c. ARGINE. Inquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids, 1284-1431. Vol. I. (Stationery Office.) WE gladly welcome the first volume of a new series of national records. Every one who understands what was the nature of a feudal aid will appreciate the immense importance which this work must have for students engaged in genealogical inquiries or in the endeavour to make out with clearness what was the nature of our very complex feudal system. It has, moreover, a subsidiary value on account of the light it is calculated to throw on the names of persons. We have come upon here but few Christian names that are in any way remarkable, but the surnames recorded are of great value, as many of them are now extinct, and we get others in their earlier forms. Notwithstanding all that has been written on the subject, the history of the surnames of this country is still in a very cloudy condition, the wildest guessing yet in many cases occupying the place of knowledge. That surnames arose first among the landowning class seems certain. The names of the tenants in capite, and the larger landowners who held under them, were usually, though not by any means exclusively, territorial. Those of lesser people were, of course, not taken from the lands they held, but they were, nevertheless, frequently the same as those of towns and villages. A man who had migrated from one place to another would sometimes assume, or have thrust upon him, the name of the village whence he came. The present volume extends from Bedfordshire to Devonshire. When the work is complete it will be a key to the English feudality of the thirteenth, turies such as no other country can boast. It seems fourteenth, and earlier part of the fifteenth cento be thus far edited with great care, and possesses a double index-one of persons, the other of places. We have used it not a little, and have discovered not a single error. The Registers of the Church of Bury, 1590-1616. surpass and very few that equal the volumes before us in careful editorship. They are models of the way that work of this kind should be done. A list of the Lancashire registers which begin before the year 1700 is given, which will be found most useful. It is compiled from the Parish Register Returns issued by the Government in 1833. The full number of these is 106, and among them fifty-eight are of the sixteenth century, and five commence in the year 1538-9, when Thomas Cromwell, the Vicar General of Henry VIII., ordered records of this kind to be kept. We think the Lancastrians must have been more careful of their parochial records than the people of many other counties. Sixteenthcentury registers are very far from common in many parts of England, and those dating from what we may call "the beginning of things" well-nigh unknown. We perhaps need not dwell on the fact that neither of these volumes furnishes evidence in favour of the superstition that after the Reformation strange names taken from the Old Testament became fashionable. Here they are undoubtedly rarer than in many name-lists of the present day. Sarai, however, does not seem to have been very uncommon in the neighbourhood of Burnley. Dauratie, too, occurs. It is probably meant for Dorothy; but those who are fond of speculative etymology may, if they so please, regard it as a distorted form of Durante, and quote it as evidence of the cult of Dante being prevalent in Lancashire in the reign of James I. This would not be a more absurd play of the imagination than much of the wild guessing which goes on almost without reproof. We get a glimpse of the great Civil War in 1644. Five soldiers were buried who had been slain at Haggate at the end of June or beginning of July. There is nothing to show for which cause they shed their blood. It may be not amiss to give their names; some one may possibly be able to identify them. They were Robert Eckroyde, Nicholas Starkie, James Gabbott, Peter Hitchin, and nard Smithe. An index of nicknames is supplied, some of which are puzzling. Why, we would ask, was John Jackson, who died in 1624, called twoe pence," and Isabel Whittaker, who departed some twenty years later, known as Black widdow"? sixteenth century there were four chapels dependent on the mother church. One alone has survived, which has been restored again in recent times to purposes of devotion. At another of them burials occasionally take place in the graveyard. As well as the registers themselves, the banns books, which exist from 1754, have been carefully examined, and the entries of those whose banns were called at Eglingham, but who were married elsewhere, have been given. This is a useful addition, as it gives an additional key to family relationships. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that Border names abound. We find Ainsleys, Carrs, Elliots, Greys, Ogles, and Reids in abundance; but many of the great historical families do not seem to have been represented at Eglingham. A branch of the race now known as Gladstone seems to have been settled here, for we find Gleadstanes in many varieties of spelling. Gatehouse, which we believe to be a purely North-Country name, is found only once. Concerning the meaning of a few, such as Sott, Toollip, and Cilla, we cannot make a reasonable guess. Provisionally, we may assume them to be corruptions of something formerly intelligible. Of the strange Biblical names which it used to be the fashion to regard as typical of the seventeenth century we have found very few examples, but have come on several others rarely found elsewhere. Effala, Ellinger, Helender, Sewan, Ussa, and Jotte are examples. Notices to Correspondents. We must call special attention to the following notices : ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications correBer-spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answering queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication "Duplicate." In the Bury register there are entries, in many varieties of spelling, relating to a family bearing the surname of Shipobotham. It has, apparently, nothing, at least directly, to do with a seafaring life. There is a place bearing the same name in the parish. In 1615 a certain James Holte, who is described as famous," was buried. The editorscorrectly, no doubt-regard this to mean infamous, and refer to the H.E.D.' in confirmation thereof. Famous" was, it appears, used sometimes in an evil sense from the days of Wyclif to those of Cobbett. The Registers of Eglingham, in the County of North- THIS is a most satisfactory issue of one of our K. E. ("Chess Poem ").-You will find the story in The Wit and Humour of the Persians,' by M. N. Kuka (Bombay, 1894), p. 14, and also in the more accessible Modern Chess Primer,' published by Messrs. Routledge, pp. 305, 306, where the ending is called 'Dilaram's Mate.' Two castles are sacrificed. A. P. ("Blight").-All that is known concerning the various significations and uses of the word will be found in the Historical English Dictionary.' NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries ""-Advertisements and Business Letters to " The Publisher" at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception. "The Gardeners' Chronicle has faithfully held to its promises. It is still, to-day, the best gardening journal, being indispensable equally to the practical gardener and the man of science, because each finds in it something useful. We wish the journal still further success."-Garten Flora, Berlin, Jan. 15. "The Gardeners' Chronicle is the leading horticultural journal of the world, and an historical publication. It has always excited our respectful admiration. A country is honoured by the possession of such a publication, and the greatest honour we can aspire to is to furnish our own country with a journal as admirably conducted."—La Semaine Horticole, Feb. 13, 1897. "The Gardeners' Chronicle is the most important horticultural journal in the world, and the most generally acknowledged authority.”—Le Moniteur d'Horticulture, Sept., 1898. Specimen Copy post free on application to the Publisher, H. G. COVE, 41, Wellington Street, Strand, London. Telegraphic Address-GARDCHRON, LONDON. Telephone No. 1543 GERRARD. *May be ordered of all Booksellers and Newsagents, and at the Railway Bookstalls. Messrs. W. H. SMITH & SON, 186, Strand, W.C., WILL FORWARD from the LIBRARY DEPARTMENT MAGAZINES AND REVIEWS, THE FOLLOWING LIBRARY COPIES WITHDRAWN FROM POSTAGE FREE to any part of the United Kingdom at the Prices annexed, The terms will be 18. 6d. per annum less to Subscribers living sufficiently near the Bookstalls to have the Magazines delivered therefrom. SUBSCRIPTIONS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE, and cannot be received for a less period than TWELVE MONTHS. If no remittance is received after the dispatch of the last number subscribed for, it will be understood that they are to be discontinued. SUBSCRIPTIONS MAY COMMENCE AT ANY DATE, A SELECTION OF MAGAZINE VOLUMES OFFERED AT GREATLY REDUCED PRICES BY And at the Railway Bookstalls, to which places they will be forwarded carriage free. THE BOOKS ARE NEW AS PUBLISHED. CASSELL'S MAGAZINE. Vol. for December, 1898, to May, 1899. Illustrated Published offered each at 5. d 8 6 8 0 2 6 www 3 15 0 34 3 6 9 0 November, 1898, to April, 1899 W. H. SMITH & SON'S SUBSCRIPTION LIBRARY, 186, STRAND, LONDON. Printed by JOHN EDWARD FRANCIS, Athenæum Press, Bream's Buildings. Chancery Lane, E.C.; and Published by FOR SALE, MANX NOTE-BOOK, complete, PRICE FOURPENCE. Registered as a Newspaper. New Edition, price Two Shillings. did condition, ret. Best offer Cover. And Advertisements in CELESTIAL MOTIONS: a Handy Book of splendid uncut. Ninth Edition. With 3 Plates. By W. T. LYNN, B.A. F.R.A.S. "Has, we are glad to see, reached a ninth edition, which enables to date "Guardian. FLAT TO LET (overlooking Battersea Park), this excellent introduction to the facts of astronomy to be brought up sunny, cheerful and healthy. Rent, inclusive, 821. Eight Rooms; Bath, hot and cold, &c.-Apply, between 12 and 4, at 11, Stafford Mansions, Albert Bridge Road, S. W. CULLETON'S HERALDIC OFFICE, 92, PICCADILLY, London, W. (formerly 25, Cranbourn Street). W. The GOLDEN LIBRARY.-Square 16mo. cloth, 28. CONTRIBUTIONS to a BALLAD HISTORY of ENGLAND. CHATTO & WINDUS, 111, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. SCHWEPPES MINERAL WATERS are ALWAYS the STANDARD of COMPARISON. Schweppes Soda THESE WATERS (Soda, Seltzer, Potass, Lithia, Lemonade, Tonic-Water, Ginger Beer, Dry Ginger Ale, &c., &c.) have been celebrated for over a century. They have always had the patronage of Royalty, and continue to be supplied to the Queen. ENGLISH NATURAL TABLE WATER:SCHWEPPES SPARKLING MALVERN, In SPLITS, PINTS, and QUARTS. SCHWEPPES, LTD., LONDON, MALVERN, 104. NEW OXFORD STREET, W.C. GLASGOW, LIVERPOOL, BRISTOL, SYDNEY, and MELBOURNE. |