Mary, Queen of Scots, at her execution which he has recorded in his 'History of England' (vol. xii.). The 'Handbook of Northamptonshire,' published in 1878, the very last book edited by my late lamented friend Richard John King, contains an account of Fotheringhay and of the memorable scene which took place within the walls of the castle. Mr. King observes, when commenting on the imprisonment of Mary and her execution here, that "the most vivid account of the last days of Queen Mary here and of her death will be found in Froude's Hist.,' vol. xii." Perhaps it may be worth noting that he does not style it accurate. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. As MR. JONAS expresses his surprise at Feb. 8, 1586, being referred to as the date of Mary's death, let me remind him that before the reformation of the calendar in England the legal year commenced on March 1, and not on January 1, as in popular usage, which became legal in 1752. The year, therefore, which by our reckoning was 1587 from January 1 to December 31, was legally 1586 during its first two months, or until the end of February, then the last month in the year. In like manner, the execution of Charles I. took place in 1648 by the old reckoning, though we always now call it 1649. W. T. LYNN. Blackheath, From the Sydney Mail, Sept. 10, 1887:"Relict of the late Mary, Queen of Scots.-For sale, a Lady's Collar, sewn by the late Mary, Queen of Scots, during her imprisonment in Lochleven Castle, Kinrossshire, Scotland, between the years 1567 and 1568. It has never been dressed, and is in the same state as it was left by the late Queen. Apply to Mr. C. Spink, Schoolhouse, Long Swamp, vid Trunkey Creek." The above advertisement may perhaps be of interest to the authorities in connexion with the Tercentenary Exhibition at Peterborough. T. R. SLEET. LORD MAYORS OF FOREIGN EXTRACTION.The following extract from the City Press appeared as a pièce de circonstance in the Times of October 29: "THE LORD MAYOR-ELECT.-As great interest is felt at the fact that the Lord Mayor elect is by birth a foreigner, it may be well to note that during the last century there were many Aldermen and Lord Mayors not natural-born English subjects. Sir Samuel Stanier was an Italian, who represented Aldgate, and was Lord Mayor in 1713. Sir James Bateman, Alderman of Coleman Street, and Lord Mayor 1716, came from Flanders, and was the ancestor of the present Lord Bateman, Sir George Meittens, of Bridge Ward (1724), came from Frankfort; and Sir Stephen Theodore Janssen, of Bread Street (1754), was probably a Swede. This is the last actually foreign Lord Mayor, for Alderman Beckford, of Billingsgate (1762), came from Jamaica; and Alderman Paul le Mesurier, who represented Dowgate, and was Lord Mayor in 1793, was son of the Governor of Alderney. His portrait may still be seen in the armoury. house of the Hon. Artillery Company, of which corps he was lieutenant-colonel, under the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV." There can be small doubt that "the last actually foreign Lord Mayor" of this paragraph was a natural-born English subject, and in all probability a native of London, where his father, who had been naturalized so far back as 1685, and had married an Englishwoman (Williamza, daughter of Sir Robert Henley), resided. It would be interesting to see this point cleared up, and haply some one of your readers may be able to indicate where his baptismal register is to be found. This "Swede" came of a double-distilled refugee family, the Janssens having, when driven out from the Netherlands in the time of the persecutions under the Duke of Alva, sought refuge in France, and Sir Stephen's father having been a native of Angoulême. In connexion with Paul le Mesurier might have been mentioned his kinsman, Peter Perchard, Lord Mayor in 1805. May one not hope that the present occasion may evoke a few trustworthy notes on the family history of the other lord mayors above referred to, viz., Stanier, Bateman, and Meittens ? On the Dublin Roll of Lord Mayors one finds, going back a couple of centuries, what seems a noteworthy fact, two brothers, both of foreign birth, the sons of a Rouen merchant, Jean Desminieres, viz., John Desminieres, who was born at Rouen in 1616 and became Dublin's Lord Mayor in 1666, and Lewis Desminieres, born at Amersfoot, in Holland, in 1622 and Lord Mayor in 1669. H. W. New University Club, S.W. "THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE."-Of late there has been some controversy as to the naval victory to which this term is applicable, and although I believe there can be no question that it really applies to Lord Howe's great victory over the French Republican fleet, commanded by Admiral Villaret, on June 1, 1794, which resulted in the capture of six of the French line of battle ships, viz., the Sans-Pareil, 2,242 tons; Juste, 2,143 tons; America, 1,884 tons; Impétueux, 1,878 tons; Northumberland, 1,811 tons; Achille, 1,801 tons, and mounting altogether 456 guns "all new, of Swedish manufacture and chiefly of brass," yet the following account of some of the "honours and rewards," paid to Lord Howe and his companions in arms-extracted from James's Naval History' will go far to confirm this opinion: "On his arrival at Spithead, the gallant veteran (his lordship was then seventy years of age) was greeted with joy and enthusiasm. On June 26 the Royal Family came down to Portsmouth and immediately proceeded to pay a visit to Lord Howe, on board his ship at Spithead. His Majesty, attended by his Principal Minister, there held a Naval Levee, and presented the Admiral with a diamond-hilted sword, valued at 3,000 guineas, also a valu able gold chain to be worn round the neck. The royal party then dined with Lord Howe on board the Royal Charlotte, and returned to shore in the evening. The King would, it is understood, have invested Lord Howe with the riband of the Garter, but was restrained from acting according to the claims of justice, and the dictates of his heart, by the strong political prejudices of the minister at his elbow." J. STANDISH HALY. THE FUR SEAL TRADE.-The following is the original letter addressed to Sir Joseph Banks on the subject: No, 5, York Street, Covent Garden, Jany. 11th, 1816. DEAR & HONOURABLE SIR,-It is now Twenty Years Since I had the honor of being Introuduced to you, and During that Period I have Receiv'd so many Favours from you which never can be in my Power to Return in any other Way than with my most Gratefull thanks & Sincere Prayers for your Health and Prosperity. You Desired me some years ago to make an Annual Report to you of my Situation and the State of the Trade I am the Founder of. I can truely say I Owe to you my very Existance for it is to your Kindness that I Received from Mr. Rose the sum of One Hundered Pounds at the Board of Trade Office, which Mr. Rose kindly Discribed in the Order I had on the Chief Clerk of the Treasury, to be a Royal Bounty for my Discovery and Invention of Making the Fur of the Seal Available to the Manufacturers of this Country. Your Honor is aware that this small Amount can be no Remuneration for a Discovery that hath Already Benifitted the Country to the Amount of Millions. Nevertheless I am very thankfull to Mr. Rose for that Seasonable Relief. With so small an Amount it was Impossable for me to do any thing in the Manufacture of Seal Fur. I had given up every thing. I had no House or home, & the sum of One Hundered Pounds would not have Purchased the Neseccary Implements and a fit Place to Manufacture it in, and without Money a Small Lot of Skins could not be Procured, the Lots at Public Sale Generally amount to upwards of 2001. each Lot. In this Situation I thought it best to take this House with a View to Lett the Upper Part to Some Respectable Person, and to Endeavour to get a Liveing began to Manufacture Trunks and Sell them in the Shop. I have had the good Fortune to Lett a Part of the House to a most Respectable Familey, Mr. Dicksons, Botanist and Seedsman of Covent Garden. Thus there are Three Persons by Chance liveing in the same House all well known to your Honor, Mr. Dickson, Mrs. Dickson (Mr. Mongo Park's Sister), and Myself, & this Unknown to me till a few Days Back. In the Business of Making and Selling Trunks a Liveing might be gaind if I could carry it on as it ought to be, but without the means Sufficient to do so I am Strugling with every Difficulty that can Opress an Honest mind, for to be Poor is a Crime in the Eye of the World. Such Honble. Sir is the Situation of my Private afairs at the Presant Moment. The Seal Fur is more and more in Demand and more widely Extended for Various Uses. The Value of the best Seal Furs cut from the Skin for the Manufacture of Fine Hats is now of Equal Value with the Fur of the Beaver, it is of more Value than Beaver Wool for the Purpose of Spining and then wove into most Beautyfull Shawls and Cloth, which are Sold at all the Principal Shops, but there is not a Shopkeeper now in the United Kingdoms who Deals in Articles of Dress & Clothing but what has in some way or Other Articles made up from the Fur of the Seal. It is also become a Leading Article in all the Fur Shops, for Muffs, Trim ings, &c. They ask for a Muff and Tippit of the best Seal Fur from five to Six Pounds and Upwards, which at most doth not Consume more than two good Skins. It is also in general Use by the Haberdashers & Milleners for Hats and Bonnets, made up from the Skin itself with the Fur on it. For this Purpose the Ordinary Skins are Use'd Shave'd as thin as Possable and Dye'd of Various Colours, but the greater Quantity is worn of the Natural Colour. Thus Honble. Sir hath my Invention and Discovery Proved a Mine of Wealth to the Nation which will Endure for ever whilest I the Founder of this new Materiel for Trade hath Suffer'd every Distress that Oppression, Imprisonment, and Privation of every Sort can Inflict without the Power or Possability of Avoiding it, for I had not five Pounds in the World when I made the Discovery. And when by Industry & Perseverance I had gain'd the Summitt and Brought the Seal Fur to Perfection and into general Use a League was form'd against me which in a few Years by the Powerfull aid of Large Capital every fair Prospect I had form'd was taken From me. The Whole Importation of Seal Skins year after year was taken up and forestalld and every art Used to get away the Workpeople I had at a great Expense Instructed. In fact Nothing was left Untried to Ruin me, but I Still Live in hope now that the Diliverance of the World and Peace is Effected by the wise Measures of the Earl of Liverpool I live in the hope that your Honor will Advocate & Transmitt the Enclosed Memoirial to him for his humane Consideration he will Pay Attention to the hard case of an Unfortunate man so Strongly Recommended by his Illustreus Frind to the Chancellor of the Exchuquer or to Mr. Rose. Without the Earl of Liverpool's Recommendation it is of no Use for me to Apply, but with his Lordship's Santion and Powerfull Interest, if he will have the humanity to take my hard fate into Consideration, every Success may be Expected. Dear & Honourable Sir I ever Shall, with the Utmost Gratitude, Remain your faithfull Humble Servant, THOS. CHAPMAN. GEORGE ELLIS. St. John's Wood. A MODERN PALIMPSEST.-The following cutting from Cornish's recent catalogue (Manchester) may have some interest as a curiosity and as a record of William Combe : "Combe's (Dr. William) Autograph Manuscript Commonplace Book in one thick folio volume, containing the originals of Dr. Syntax, Qui Genus, accounts of Public Edifices and Schools, the University of Oxford, various Histories of Towns, Essays, Poems, Works written for professed authors who could not write themselves; a curious defence, written in the name of the Marshal of the King's Bench, concerning his conduct in connexion with Lord Cochrane's Escape, and giving several curious particulars of the circumstances attending the same, and many other things, altogether a very interesting volume, but roughly used by himself, who wrote just where the book opened, either end upwards. Very imperfect in many places. The original Manuscript has been covered by a second Composition being written over it with a coarse pen.' ESTE. THE HEADSMAN'S BLOCK. (See 7th S. iv. 342.) -In Froissart's 'Chronicles,' 4to., vol. ii. p. 465 (William Smith, 113, Fleet Street, 1839), is an engraving of the "Execution of Aymerigot Marcel at Paris. From a MS. Froissart of the fifteenth century." Marcel is represented as blindfold, kneeling down, and on the left side is the executioner wielding a large two-handed sword. On the scaffold is the pillory, in which it is said prior to his execution he was "turned round several times." This is a circular cage made of wood, and not at all resembling the modern pillory in use in this country. NEMO cannot be correct in his assertion that " a short cylinder of wood, about the diameter of an ordinary adult beech or birch-tree, say twelve inches roughly squared down to nine," was the usual block used for the decapitation of state criminals. Perhaps such a one might have been used for the purpose occasionally, in what the executioner in 'Anne of Geierstein called "cellar or dungeon practice"; and very likely on a rough one of this description Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, was executed by the insurgents, in the days of Wat Tyler and Lord Say, by the orders of Jack Cade in 1450. ATTENDANCE=ATTENTION.-An excellent example-a much better one than the latest (dated 1790) given in the 'New English Dictionary'-of attendance attention, or rather the act of attending, or giving attention, to anything, occurs in an autograph letter, in my possession, of the Duke of Wellington, dated April 9, 1837. The letter, which is in answer to a Mr. Wright, who had sent him some petition, concludes as follows : "The Duke is much honoured by the confidence reposed in him; but he must add that the attendance to the Number of Petitions sent to him and the writing of notes and Letters upon them is [sic] as much as one man can do." On reading this, the use of the word attendance at once struck me as peculiar, and I do not think that any one would now use it in this way; yet attention alone (which one would have to use without the article) is very much less good, and I am afraid that some such paraphrase as "the attention which has to be given" would have to It is a pity, therefore, that attendance in this sense be employed in order to express the same meaning. has been allowed to drop into disuse. Sydenham Hill. In Trials of Charles I. and the Regicides,' no Salisbury's Countess, she would not die, And the edge since then has been notched and dull. It seems difficult to account for the unfortunate queen Anne Boleyn being styled by NEMO on p. 344 a parvenue (the italics are his), when she was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, representative of one of the oldest families in England, and possessor of extensive estates in Kent and Norfolk. She was also the granddaughter of the Duke of Norfolk, and the cousin of the greatest ornament of his age, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. In the fine cruciform church of Salle, in Norfolk, are some ancient brasses of the Boleyns, her ancestors, remaining, and there is the tradition of a slab in the nave of the church covering her dishonoured ashes. She is known to have spent some portion of her early life at Blickling, in Norfolk, though it is said that Hever Castle, in Kent, another seat of Sir Thomas Boleyn, was the place where Henry VIII. first fell in love with her. JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. F. CHANCE. EARLY FRUIT TREES.-Between the leaves of a MS. Year Book at Lamport Hall, the property of Sir Charles Isham, Bart., I found the following interesting letter, no doubt stuck in by its recipient, the Queens majestys attorney," as a Mayster aturne, after my most hartye commendatyons I have sent yow an abricoke tre, a belle pere whiche wyll not be eten afore mydsomer; allso I have send [sic] you too renet tres whiche be as faire as anye be [sic] Inglond. Yow must send them quicklye in to ye cuntre and place them in a basketfull of yerthe and resonable depe and dunge abowte them. Yow must defend them from north est wind. If ther wer anye other thing yt I may doo yow plesure in yow shall find me redye. Whrytten from Cobham Haule the fowrthe of Januarye 1559. Your kinsman G. COBHAN. the quenes magesitis aturne, these be d' w' spede (in a SHELLEY FAMILY.-On looking over an old volume of 'N. & Q.' I saw MR. BUXTON FORMAN'S notice of two deeds relating to the Shelley family, which he said should have been completed by a third, which was not with the others. I believe this third deed is in my possession, I having bought it last year with others. It is dated Sept. 14, 1692, and is a deed of sale of the manor of Sullington and other lands in Sussex to Thomas Bathurst of London by John Shelley of Horsham. In addition to the above names the following are mentioned: Robert Michell of Southampton; Theobald Therewith a sunder in the midst it brast, His weasand pipe it through his gorget cleft. Also Gale, in his translation of Vigo's 'Anatomie,' p. 8, says: "The other conduit called Trachea arteria or the wesand, is yt by which the winde or aire is conuaied to the lungs." This Anglo-Saxon word or name, hardly altered in spelling, is still commonly used in this part of Yorkshire, though its meaning has changed from the "wind-pipe" to that other adjacent canal" the 66 gullet," or swallowing-pipe, as we should say. Tripe merchants vend the gullet, here termed wezand, from their stalls in the market. It finds a large sale when cleaned, boiled, and the inside turned outwards. HERBERT HARDY. Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury. Queries. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only private interest, to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. EARLY CHURCHWARDENS' ACCOUNTS.-Being about to print and edit the churchwardens' accounts of the parish of St. Mary-on-the-Hill, Chester, which begin in 1536, the twenty-seventh year of Henry VIII., I shall be very much obliged for any information as to early churchwardens' accounts which have been printed in the journals of any society or in any local history. There are many very interesting references in these Chester accounts which I should be glad to compare with those of other parts of England. Particulars can be sent me direct or through your columns. J. P. EARWAKER. Pensarn, Abergele, N. Wales. CARDINAL BEATON.-Where do the following lines, commonly attributed to Lyndesay, first occur? I have looked into the following accounts of Beaton's murder without finding any allusion to them as contemporary: the histories of Scotland by Buchanan, Tytler, Burton, Robertson, Pitscottie, Cook, Knox, Calderwood; also the editions of Lyndesay's Works' by Chalmers and David Laing; Sibbald's History of Fife'; Lyon's 'History of St. Andrews'; and Irving's 'Life of Lyndesay':As for the Cardinal, I grant He was a man we weel could want, T. D. 'WHITEHALL EVENING POST.'-I have occasion to refer to the Whitehall Evening Post of 1774. It is not in the British Musem, nor in the library of the London Institution, nor Guildhall. Can you or any of your readers inform me where I can refer to it? WALTER PRIDEAUX. YORKSHIRE PROVERB.-In the 'Life and Letters of Charles Darwin,' Robert Darwin, the great-grandfather of the naturalist, is credited with the following :— From a morning that doth shine, Is this a version in rhyme of the old proverb in common use in Yorkshire certainly seventy years ago, which runs thus: "A morning without clouds, a child that drinks wine, and a woman that talks Latin seldom come to a good end"? LELAND NOEL. hand, that this roof was bodily removed from the church of St. Patrick, Peel Castle, to cover that which had been erected, of the same size, on the mainland. On the other hand, it is said that the roof was made from beams taken from the cathedral within the precints of Peel Castle. I should feel obliged if any one would kindly inform me which, if either, of these statements is correct, and of the dates relating thereto, or let me know where I may obtain such information. WILLIAM MARTIN. 5, Waldegrave Road, Teddington. SOLUTION OF RIDDLE WANTED. Twelve pears hanging high, And yet left eleven there! by Henry Stephens, 1569, signatures in eights, and bound in vellum. The sides of this small volume are stamped in gold with a double C within an oval wreath. Is the monogram likely to be that of Catherine de Medici? She used the double C in more elaborate bindings. The back has four roses (!), separated by straight ornamented divisions. Will any one kindly give me the required information? J. F. MANSEEGH, Liverpool. MAJOR DENHAM, F.R.S.-Can any reader of 'N. & Q.' tell me where I can find a biography of Major Dixon Denham, F.R.S., who conducted an exploring expedition in Africa during the years 1822-4? Also, can any one tell me of the late Admiral Sir Henry Mangles Denham, whether he was connected by blood with the Denham family It is No. 200 in Halliwell's 'Nursery Rhymes and or only (as I have heard) by adoption? Also, what T. W. C. "BELMONT."-I shall be very glad if any one can tell me what is the origin of the hymn tune called "Belmont." Who is the composer, and where can I find the tune? L. C. M. 'WINDSOR DROLLERY': JORDAN'S 'ROYAL ARBOUR.'-I shall feel very grateful if some reader of N. & Q.' will kindly send me a transcript of pp. 87 and 88 of 'Windsor Drollery,' 1672, retaining all the peculiarities of spelling. The copy in the British Museum, of which I have recently had a transcript made, unfortunately wants these two pages, and I understand that there is no copy of the 1672 edition in the Bodleian Library. I shall also be glad to learn whether any public or private library possesses a perfect copy of the 1671 edition; and whether a transcript of it would be permitted. The Bodleian copy, as I am informed, is imperfect, wanting pp. 13 to 170. Can any of your readers inform me regarding Jordan's Royal Arbor of Loyal Poesie, 1664, whether the first part, consisting of poems, correctly ends at p. 80, as does the copy in the British Museum? As the title-page of this is imperfect, I shall be thankful to any one sending me a copy of the title-page and of the last five lines of p. 50, the first part (which also are torn away in the British Museum copy). FRANK E. BLISS. University Club, New York, U.S. 'GOD AND THE KING.'-In the churchwardens' accounts of Houghton-le-Spring we find paid in 1617 "for a booke for the Clarke for writinge of the names that was put in to have the booke called God and the Kinge, 6d." What was the book? J. T. F. Bp. Hatfield's Hall, Durham. MONOGRAM.-Some time ago I picked up a copy of 'Comicorum Græcorum Sententiæ,' &c., printed Grammar School, Bedford. ST. DACHIAROG.-Can any reader kindly send me the date and saint's day of the above Irish saint, or tell me where I can obtain such information? He is mentioned in O'Donovan's edition of the Annals of the Four Masters,' as being of Airenotice of him in the Martyrology of Donegal,' in gal, i. e., Errigal, in co. Tyrone. I can find no Colgan's 'Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ,' or in Kelly's 'Calendar of Irish Saints.' F. P. BARNARD. Eastcote, near Pinner, Middlesex. NEWELL.-I should be very thankful for informstion relating to the Devonshire family of Newell, The wife of Thomas Newell of Eastacott was buried in Morthoe Church in 1700. And I have an old passe, signed and sealed by the Mayor of Exeter, June 22, 1685, desiring that the bearers of John Newell and his servant Jerome Williams be allowed to pass quietly from Exeter to Parracomb beyond South Molton. I want to trace the family further back, and should also be glad to gain intelligence of any members of a later date. I. E. C. BERKLEY, OF Knightsbridge.—Where can I learn particulars of this gentleman, who left 25L per annum to each of his four dogs, and had busts of them sculptured at the corners of his tomb? Where was he buried? C. A. WARD. Walthamstow. DEMON RINGING A BELL.-In the church of St. Meurice, Vallais, Switzerland, on a side altar, is the figure of a bishop represented as holding a chained demon, who rings a bell, and carrying a T-square with a bell at the end of each arm. Can any one identify this saint? E. HARDMAN. PESOCK.-Can any of your correspondents quote passages in which this word occurs? I have met |