Essex, but at present I cannot furnish the Consett, co. Durham. ANN OF SWANSEA (12 S. v. 322). This lady was Ann Kemble (Mrs. Curtis), a sister of Mrs. Siddons. A brief and unpleasing account of her is given in the Dict. Nat. Biog.' in the article on Mrs. Siddons. Further details may be found on p. 193 of 'Mrs. Siddons' ("Eminent Women Series ") by Mrs. Arthur Kennard. C. S. C. Mrs. Anne Hatton wrote about a dozen novels between 1810 and 1831, under the name of Anne of Swansea. She was the sister of Kemble the actor and of Mrs. Siddons. C. B. WHEELER. Percy Fitzgerald's 'The Kembles' devotes several pages to her. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. CAPT. ROBERT BOYLE: BRITISH PRIVATEER (12 S. v. 294, 329).—This rubbish has been attributed to William Rufus Chetwood (f. 1766) and to Benjamin Victor (fl. 1778), The authorship of the Adventures' of the above was dealt with at 10 S. xii, 417, and 11 S. i, 73, with references to earlier volumes of' N. & Q.' W. B. H. Allebone, in his Dictionary of Authors,' states, "This fictitious narrative was written by Benjamin Victor." However, some years ago I ran across an item which states that the author was R. Chetwood, which was so conclusive that I so entered it in the catalogue of my library. I cannot recall at this date the full particulars which led to the above entry. GEORGE MERRYWEATHER. If there is any part of this country which NORTH OF ENGLAND (12 S. v. 317).— LEPER'S WINDOWS: LOW SIDE WINDOW (12 S. vi. 14).-Where a window of this kind exists it is generally to be found in the lower part of one of the side walls of a It chancel. The lower half, or the whole of it being usually closed with a shutter. Its ritualistic or other use is still uncertain. A good deal has been written about the subject of these windows during the last fifty years. The chief theories concerning these windows are these: (a) They may be leper's windows, but this is highly unlikely. The idea that English medieval lepers were communicated through them, or through them watched the priest celebrate Mass, "We had classics of our own, without being beholden to insolent Greece or haughty Rome, that passed current among us-Peter Wilkins, The Adventures of the Hon. Capt. Robert Boyle, The Fortunate Blue-coat Boy,' and the like." Christ's Hospital Five-and-Thirty Years Ago.' "A man found a Swallow nest with all the brood in it dead without any assignable cause. On strict . examination, however, he discovered every fledgeling had its mouth crammed with the beard of wheat and pine needles. In fact their real mother had been dead and they were stifled to death by their step-mother bird. Such is said to be a not unfrequent occurence."-Terashima, Wakan Sansai Dzue,' 1713, tom. xlii. A Chinese work, 'Suh-poh-wuh-chi' (eleventh century) states that the sparrow seizes the swallow's nest by thrusting the mugwort therein, which is very obnoxious to the latter bird. The Japanese say perilla instead of mugwort. Tanabe, Kii, Japan. KUMAGUSU MINAKATA. Miss Hawthorn, that the statement in the earlier guidebook that the name arose, as in the case of romescot (see 'N.E.D.'), or Peter's Pence, from the rent formerly being paid to the Pope, was open to question. She now writes me that the older inhabitants of Waltham are wont to pronounce the name "roomland," thus confirming the AngloSaxon derivation. Besides the one at St. Albans there is, it appears, also a Romeland at Norwich, and another in the city parish of St. Mary-at-Hill, at a spot where Abbot Walter de Gant of Waltham built himself а town house (loc. cit., p. 54). Since writing the above I have come across the following further particulars in Harben's Dictionary of London' (1918), s.v. Romelands' : "There seem to have been several of these open spaces in different parts of the City in early days, as, for instance in Tower Ward, in Billingsgate Ward, in Dowgate Ward, in Queenhithe Ward. establishments, as at St. Albans, Bury St. Edmunds Wheatley says that in part of the larger monastic &c. there were large open spaces railed off, used at any rate at Waltham as a market place, and he suggests that they may have been generally so used in early times. It is interesting to note that in a decree of Chancery 37 H. viii., confirming to the citizens the possession of the Romeland at Billingsgate. it is expressly stated that markets had been held time out of mind on both the Romelands at Billingsgate and at Queenhithe. Dr. Sharpe says that it was a name given to an open space near a dock where ships could discharge (Cal. i Bk F. p. 175, note)." Probably the name was given first to the land of the abbey, and then extended to ground lying on the bank of the Thames. N. W. HILL. [MR. O. KING SMITH and MR. JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT also thanked for replies.] MEDIEVAL IMMUREMENT (12 S. v. 320).— There is a discussion of this in Grant Allen's 'Evolution of the Idea of God.' A. MORLEY DAVIES. THE LOG HOUSE (12 S. v. 320).-In 1541 Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Ellerker drew up an official View of the Castles, Towers, Barmekyns, and Fortresses of the Frontier ROMELAND, ST. ALBANS (12 S. v. 294).— of the East and Middle Marches' (Cotton See 10 S. vi. 432; vii. 58. Quite recently I MS. Calig. B, vii. fo. 636 (n.p.) printed by received from the Rev. G. H. Johnson a copy Cadwallader Bates in The Border Holds of of his pamphlet The Church of Waltham Northumberland,' p. 28, et seq.). ConcernHoly Cross, in which Prof. Skeat's deriva-ing Tynedale they report :tion of Romeland, from A.S. rum, empty, vacant, applied here to land where wagons coming to the town or abbey could have their horses unharnessed,' is noted on p. 29. I had previously pointed out to the curator, : And yet suerly the hedesmen of them have very stronge houses whereof for the most parte the utter sydes or walles be made of greatte sware oke tenons of the same so thycke mortressed that yt trees strongly bounde & Joyned together with great wyl be very harde withoute greatt force & laboure to breake or caste downe any of the said houses the tymber as well of the said walles as rooffes be so greatt & covered most parte with turves & earthee that they wyll not easyly burne or he sett on fyere." In the View' it is frequently noted that a house or a tower is of stone, which seems to imply that there were others of wood. M. H. DOdds. Home House, Kell's Lane, Low Fell, Gateshead. LONGWORTH CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE (12 S. v. 320).—According to Jakeman and Carver's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire, 1890, Longworth, the property of Wm. Hy. Barneby, Esq., J.P., D.L., is situated about one mile south of Lugwardine parish and four miles east of the City of Hereford. The mansion was for several centuries the seat of the ancient family of the Walwyns, who derived their name from Gwallain or Wallwain Castle in Pembrokeshire. Sir Peter Gwallain was engaged in the conquest of Brecknockshire, with the army of William Rufus. The grounds display some fine timber, and the scenery is pleasant. CHAS. HALL CROUCH. 204 Hermon Hill, Sth. Woodford. I cannot find this Castle, but there is a country seat named Longworth House 3 miles east of Hereford, and 2 miles from Sufton, on the opposite side of the river Frome. Britton and Brayley gives a short account of the family of Walwyn who occupied the mansion for some centuries. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. BOYER FAMILY (12 S. v. 294).-J. H. R. appears to be mistaken in stating that the son of Peter Boyer of St. Giles and father of the Rev. James Boyer (Upper Master of Christ's Hospital in Lamb's time, and my great-grandfather) was named Abraham. That he bore the same name as his fatherPeter is shown by the extracts from the Minute Book of the Cooper's Company, which I give below : - May 3, 1715.-Peter Boyer, son of Peter Boyer, a Frenchman, naturalized, of St. Giles-in-theFields in the County of Middlesex, distiller, apprenticed to Rich Parker, a cooper. June 5, 1722-Peter Boyer, upon Testimony of Rich Parker, admitted a Freeman by servitude.Lawrence Pountney Lane. April 23, 1782.-James Boyer, upon a view of his Father's copy is admitted a Freeman by Patrimony.-Christ's Hospital Clerk. At the same time he paid £8 68. 8d., being quarterage at 3s. 4d. per annum for 50 years from the time his father Peter Boyer was admitted to his freedom to the time of his death. son of the These extracts were sent to me by Mr.. Herbert Boyer-Brown of Ongar, Essex, who tells me that they are copied from a letter written by Mr. James Boyer (the clerk to the Cooper's Company and Rev. James Boyer) to his brother Francis in March, 1842. Mr. Boyer-Brown adds that although, in view of the fact that both. migrated from France to London, it seems not unlikely that the Abel Boyer (16671729) born at Castres was related to Peter Boyer of St. Giles-in-the-Field, he has been unable to trace a relationship, and that Boyer is, of course, a very common French E. G. DISTIN (née BOYER). name. Holtwhite House, Enfield. 66 As was ELEPHANT AND CASTLE (12 S. vi. 11).— Whilst not disposed to criticize the Adam and Eve theory as to the origin of this sign, which your correspondent truly says leaves him more in the dark than ever "-for what mysteries are there which do not emanate from that supreme legend, or are more or less associated with it ?-I venture to suggest a more get-at-able explanation. Its origin is traced in the history of chess. most of your readers must know, the elephant and the castle are pieces in this most ancient of games. The elephant appears in Oriental chess, from whence the game came intono castle on its Europe; but there was back. Its meaning can only be vaguely guessed in the light of Hindu religion and philosophy, which regard this animal as sacred. Instead of the present castle, there This ship was originally a ship. associated with the mystery of the Sacred It was, I venture to say, not unknown Fire. to British chess, even at the period of the Caxton press publications, as an old copy of Cesolis, translated under the auspices of this Guild, indicates in one of its plates, which shows a piece with a pole and flag attached to it. It is impossible to make out for certain what the base of this piece is, nor do any but it certainly is not a castle; of the other pieces visible (27 in all) show For if one is right as the shape of a castle. to the piece with mast and flag being a ship, there is no place for a castle. The Hindu name for the ship was roka. The Persian called it rukh, i.e., in their tongue, champion. The Arabians, also deceived mere sound, called it roc, i.e., in their tong a gigantic bird. The Italians, following The Fren called it rocco, i.e., a castle. The English called called it roquer. It has been represented in sets rook. European chessmen for an uncertain perio by the figure of an ancient Persian fire-tower S. V. GAVELACRE : PLACE-NAME (12 295, 332).—In "The Muses Threnodie; or, Mournful Mournings on the Death of Mr. Gall....by Mr. H. Adamson"; Edinburgh, 1638, this line, relating to the town of Perth, occurs : From whence our Castle-gavil as yet is named. A footnote in a 66 new Edition," published at Perth in 1774 (vol. i., 89) says: "The street....is erroneously called the Castlegavel, instead of the Castle-street." Nuttall's Standard Dictionary gives a provincial word for ground," as one meaning of the word gavel" 66 W. B. H. "A man found a Swallow nest with all the brood in it dead without any assignable cause. On strict examination, however, he discovered every fledgeling had its mouth crammed with the beard of wheat and pine needles. In fact their real mother had been dead and they were stifled to death by their step-mother bird. Such is said to be a not unfrequent occurence."-Terashima, Wakan Sansai Dzue,' 1713, tom. xlii. A Chinese work, Suh-poh-wuh-chi' (eleventh century) states that the sparrow seizes the swallow's nest by thrusting the mugwort therein, which is very obnoxious to the latter bird. The Japanese say perilla instead of mugwort. Tanabe, Kii, Japan. KUMAGUSU MINAKATA. ROMELAND, ST. ALBANS (12 S. v. 294).See 10 S. vi. 432; vii. 58. Quite recently I received from the Rev. G. H. Johnson a copy of his pamphlet The Church of Waltham Holy Cross,' in which Prof. Skeat's derivation of Romeland, from A.S. rum, empty, vacant, applied here to land where wagons coming to the town or abbey could have their horses unharnessed,' is noted on p. 29. I had previously pointed out to the curator, Besides the one at St. Albans there is, it appears, also a Romeland at Norwich, and another in the city parish of St. Mary-at-Hill, at a spot where Abbot Walter de Gant of Waltham built himself 8 town house (loc. cit., p. 54). Since writing the above I have come across the following further particulars in Harben's Dictionary of London' (1918), s.v. ‘Romelands' :— "There seem to have been several of these open spaces in different parts of the City in early days, as, for instance in Tower Ward, in Billingsgate Ward, in Dowgate Ward, in Queenhithe Ward. establishments, as at St. Albans, Bury St. Edmunds Wheatley says that in part of the larger monastic &c. there were large open spaces railed off, used at any rate at Waltham as a market place, and he suggests that they may have been generally so used in early times. It is interesting to note that in a decree of Chancery 37 H. viii., confirming to the citizens the possession of the Romeland at Billingsgate. it is expressly sted that markets had been held time out of mind on both the Romelands at Billingsgate and at Queenhithe. Dr. Sharpe says that it was a name given to an open space near a dock where ships could discharge (Cal. i Bk F. p. 175, note)." land of the abbey, and then extended to Probably the name was given first to the ground lying on the bank of the Thames. N. W. HILL. [MR. O. KING SMITH and MR. JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT also thanked for replies.] MEDIEVAL IMMUREMENT (12 S. v. 320).— There is a discussion of this in Grant Allen's Evolution of the Idea of God.' A. MORLEY DAVIES. THE LOG HOUSE (12 S. v. 320).—In 1541 Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Ellerker drew up an official View of the Castles, Towers, Barmekyns, and Fortresses of the Frontier of the East and Middle Marches' (Cotton MS. Calig. B, vii. fo. 636 (n.p.) printed by Cadwallader Bates in The Border Holds of Northumberland,' p. 28, et seq.). Concerning Tynedale they report : And yet suerly the hedesmen of them have very stronge houses whereof for the most parte the utter sydes or walles be made of greatte sware oke tenons of the same so thycke mortressed that yt trees strongly bounde & Joyned together with great wyl be very harde withoute greatt force & laboure to breake or caste downe any of the said houses the tymber as well of the said walles as rooffes be so greatt & covered most parte with turves & earthee that they wyll not easyly burne or be sett on fyere." In the View' it is frequently noted that a house or a tower is of stone, which seems to imply that there were others of wood. M. H. Dodds. Home House, Kell's Lane, Low Fell, Gateshead. LONGWORTH CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE (12 S. v. 320).-According to Jakeman and Carver's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire,' 1890, Longworth, the property of Wm. Hy. Barneby, Esq., J.P., D.L., is situated about one mile south of Lugwardine parish and four miles east of the City of Hereford. The mansion was for several centuries the seat of the ancient family of the Walwyns, who derived their name from Gwallain or Wallwain Castle in Pembroke shire. Sir Peter Gwallain was engaged in the conquest of Brecknockshire, with the army of William Rufus. The grounds display some fine timber, and the scenery is pleasant. CHAS. HALL CROUCH. 204 Hermon Hill, Sth. Woodford. I cannot find this Castle, but there is a country seat named Longworth House 3 miles east of Hereford, and 2 miles from Sufton, on the opposite side of the river Frome. Britton and Brayley gives a short account of the family of Walwyn who occupied the mansion for some centuries. ARCHIBALD SPARKE. BOYER FAMILY (12 S. v. 294).—J. H. R. appears to be mistaken in stating that the son of Peter Boyer of St. Giles and father of the Rev. James Boyer (Upper Master of Christ's Hospital in Lamb's time, and my great-grandfather) was named Abraham. That he bore the same name as his fatherPeter is shown by the extracts from the Minute Book of the Cooper's Company, which I give below: May 3, 1715.-Peter Boyer, son of Peter Boyer, a Frenchman, naturalized, of St. Giles-in-theFielde in the County of Middlesex, distiller, apprenticed to Rich Parker, a cooper. June 5, 1722.-Peter Bover, upon Testimony of Rich Parker, admitted a Freeman by servitude.Lawrence Pountney Lane. April 23, 1782.-James Boyer, upon a view of his Father's copy is admitted a Freeman by Patrimony.-Christ's Hospital Clerk. At the same time he paid £8 6s. 8d., being quarterage at 3s. 4d. per annum for 50 years from the time his father Peter Boyer was admitted to his freedom to the time of his death. These extracts were sent to me by Mr.. Herbert Boyer-Brown of Ongar, Essex, who tells me that they are copied from a letter written by Mr. James Boyer (the clerk to son of the the Cooper's Company and Rev. James Boyer) to his brother Francis in March, 1842. Mr. Boyer-Brown adds that although, in view of the fact that both. migrated from France to London, it seems not unlikely that the Abel Boyer (16671729) born at Castres was related to Peter Boyer of St. Giles-in-the-Field, he has been unable to trace a relationship, and that Boyer is, of course, a very common French E. G. DISTIN (née BOYER). name. Holtwhite House, Enfield. Its As ELEPHANT AND CASTLE (12 S. vi. 11).— Whilst not disposed to criticize the Adam and Eve theory as to the origin of this sign, which your correspondent truly says leaves him "more in the dark than ever -for what mysteries are there which do not emanate from that supreme legend, or are more or less associated with it ?--I venture to suggest a more get-at-able explanation. origin is traced in the history of chess. most of your readers must know, the elephant and the castle are pieces in this most ancient of games. The elephant appears in Oriental chess, from whence the game came intoEurope; but there was no castle on its back. Its meaning can only be vaguely guessed in the light of Hindu religion and philosophy, which regard this animal as sacred. Instead of the present castle, there was originally a ship. This ship associated with the mystery of the Sacred Fire. It was, I venture to say, not unknown to British chess, even at the period of the Caxton press publications, as an old copy of Cesolis, translated under the auspices of this Guild, indicates in one of its plates, which shows a piece with a pole and flag attached to it. It is impossible to make out for certain what the base of this piece is, but it certainly is not a castle ; nor do any of the other pieces visible (27 in all) show For if one is right as the shape of a castle. was to the piece with mast and flag being a ship, The Hindu there is no place for a castle. name for the ship was roka. The Persians called it rukh, i.e., in their tongue, champion. The Arabians, also deceived by a mere sound, called it roc, i.e., in their tongue, a gigantic bird. The Italians, following suit, The French called it rocco, i.e., a castle. called it roquer. The English called it rook. It has been represented in sets of European chessmen for an uncertain n by the figure of an ancient Persian fire |