Notes and Queries, Number 182, April 23, 1853

These are the only particulars which I have yet ascertained as to the portrait, for neither of the gentlemen who were present at this transaction with the broker, though they agree in the circumstances which I have above narrated, can remember the name of my great unknown.

I look, however, with confidence to the wide range of your correspondents, and hope to receive some clue which may guide me to the wished-for discovery.

The portrait is an oil painting, a fine full florid face, with a long wig of black curly hair resting on the shoulders, gown and band, date probably from Queen Anne to George II.

J. T. A.

Arms: Battle-axe.—With some quarterings of Welsh arms in Bisham (Marlow) of Hobey, is one of three battle-axes. The same appear near Denbigh, supposed taken in with a L. R. from Vaughan. Query, What family or families bore three battle-axes?

A. C.

Bullinger's Sermons.—Will some of your correspondents kindly give me some information regarding a volume of sermons by Henry Bullinger, which I have reason to believe is of rather rare occurrence? It is Festorum dierum Domini et Servatoris nostri Jesu Christi Sermones Ecclesiastici: Heinrycho Bullingero, Authore. There is a vignette, short preface (on title-page), with a Scripture motto, Matt. xvii. Date is, "Tiguri apud Christoph. Froschoverum a. MDLVIII." I believe there is a copy in the University Library, Cambridge.

Enivri.

Monkstown, Dublin.

Gibbon's Library.—Matthews, in his Diary of an Invalid, says, when visiting Gibbon's house at Lausanne, "His library still remains; but it is buried and lost to the world. It is the property of Mr. Beckford, and lies locked up in an uninhabited house at Lausanne" (1st edit. 1820, p. 319.). This was written about 1817. Was the library ever transferred to Fonthill or to Bath, or does it still remain at Lausanne?

J. H. M.

Dr. Timothy Bright.—Can any of your correspondents inform me whether this gentleman, author of a Treatise on Melancholy, an edition of Fox's Martyrs, &c., was an ancestor of the Rev. Henry Bright, prebend of Worcester Cathedral, and instructor of Samuel Butler, author of Hudibras?

H. A. B.

Townley MSS.—I request to know, where are the Townley MSS.? 5 They are quoted by Nicolas in the Scope and Grosvenor Rolls? Also, where are the MSS. often referred to in the History of the House of Yvery as then penes the Earl of Egmont; and also a folio of Pedigrees by Camden Russet?

H. T. Ellacombe.

Order of St. John of Jerusalem.—1. Who were the members of the British Language of St. John of Jerusalem, when Elizabeth took away their property?

2. What members of the British Language were present when, in 1546, the English commander Upton attacked and defeated the famous Corsair Dragut at Tarschien in Malta? Also, what members of it were present when the Chevalier Repton, Grand Prior of England in 1551, was killed, after signally defeating the Turks in another attack which they made on the island?

3. What became of the records of the Language?

N.B.—Some of them, belonging to the Irish branch of it, were lately bought of a Jew by a private gentleman in the Grand Duchy of Baden. They are supposed to have been deposited for security at Heidersheim near Fribourg, which was the chief seat of the German Language of the Order.

R. L. P.

Wartensee, Lake of Constance.

Consecrated Roses, Swords, &c.—Where will any account be found of the origin of the custom, which has long prevailed at Rome, of the Pope's blessing, on the eve at certain festivals, roses and other articles, and which were afterwards frequently presented to sovereigns and potentates as tokens of friendship and amity?

G.

West, Kipling, and Millbourne.—In 1752 there was a firm of West and Kipling in Holborn: the Christian name of West was Thomas; and there is reason to believe that he had two sons, Francis and Thomas. A George Millbourne, Esq., of Spring Gardens, married a cousin of Thomas West, the partner of Kipling: these facts are referred to in the will of a lady proved A.D. 1764. Can any reader of "N. & Q." furnish me with materials or references from which I may gather information of these families of West and Millbourne? The smallest contribution will be thankfully received by

F. S.

Font Inscriptions.—I would request the favour of any such of ancient date. A collection of them would be interesting. I can give three.

At Lullington, Somerset, on a Norman font, in characters of that date:

"In hoc Fontu sacro pereunt delicta lavacro."

At Bourn, Lincoln:

"Sup ome nom I H C est nom qde."

At Melton Mowbray:

"Sancta Trinitas misere nobis."

H. T. Ellacombe.

Welsh Genealogical Queries.—Can John ap William ap John (Vol. vii., p. 292.), or some other reader, enlighten me as to who the following personages were, or where a pedigree of them is to be found:

1. Gwladys, da. of Ithel ap Rhys ap Morgan, of Ewias ap Morgan Hîr ap Testyn ap Gwrgant, of 4th royal tribe, who ma. Madog ap Griffith.—Burke's Landed Gentry, "Hughes of Gwerclas."

2. Beatrix, da. of Eignion ap David ap Myles ap Griffith ap Owen, lord of Bromfield; and Honet ap Jago ap Ydwall, prince of Wales, who ma. William Belward, baron of Malpas.

3. Gwernwy, cousin of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, called prince of the 14th royal tribe, whose grand-da. Hunydd ma. Meredith ap Bleddyn.—V. Burke, as above.

4. Gwentlian, wife of the above Gwernwy, da. of Rhys ap Morgan.

5. Griffin, son of Wenovewyn, whose da. ma. Fulke Fitzwarine, a baron, 1295—1314.—V. Burke's Extinct Peerage.

6. Gladys, da. of Rygwallon, prince of Wales, said by Sir Wm. Segar to be wife of Walter FitzOther, ancestor of Lords Windsor; and what authority is there for this match?—V. Collins, &c.

As these Queries are not of general interest, I inclose a stamped envelope for the answers.

E. H. Y.

The Butler and his Man William.—These mythological personages, the grotesque creation of Mr. Grosvenor Bedford's fertile imagination, are frequently referred to and dilated on in the letters addressed to him by Southey (Life of Southey, by his Son, vol. ii. p. 335., &c.), when urging Mr. Bedford to write a Pantagruelian romance on their lives and adventures, which however was never accomplished. What therefore is the meaning of the following paragraph, which appears at the conclusion of the review of volume ii. of Southey's Life, contained in the Gent.'s Mag. for April, 1850, p. 359.?

"We will only add, that with respect to the Butler mentioned at p. 335., the editor seems but imperfectly informed. His portrait, and that of his man William, are now hanging on the walls of our study. His Life is on our table. He himself has long since returned to the 'august abode' from which he came."

J. M. B.

Tunbridge Wells.

Longhi's Portraits of Guidiccioni.—The Count Alessandro Cappi of Ravenna is about to publish an elaborate life of his fellow-townsman Luca Longhi, with very copious illustrations from that painter's works.

He has ransacked Italy in vain for a portrait of Monsignor Giovanni Guidiccioni, President of Romagna, painted by Luca Longhi in 1540. This portrait possesses more than ordinary interest, since (to use the words of Armenini, author of Veri Precetti della Pittura) "fu predicato per maraviglioso in Roma da Michelangelo Buonarrotti." Count Cappi, supposing that the picture may have found its way to England, hopes by the publication of this notice to discover its whereabouts. Any correspondent who shall be kind enough to furnish him, through this journal, with the desired information, may be assured of his "più vera riconoscenza."

W. G. C.

Sir George Carr.—Wanted, pedigree and arms, wife's name and family, of Sir George Carr, who was joint clerk of the council of Munster from 1620 to 1663, or thereabouts. Sir George had two sons at least, William and Thomas; William was alive in 1673. Whom did he marry, and what family had he?

Y. S. M.

Dublin.

Dean Pratt.—Dr. Hessey will feel obliged to any reader of "N. & Q." who can answer the following questions.

At what College of what University did Dr. Samuel Pratt, Dean of Rochester, receive his education, and by whom was he ordained?

He was born in 1658, left Merchant Taylors' school (where he passed his early years) in 1677, and was created D.D. by royal mandate, at Cambridge, in 1697, but no college is attached to his name in the list of Cambridge graduates. Still, if he was of neither university, it seems difficult to account for his having had the successive preferments of Chaplain to the Princess of Denmark, Almoner to the Duke of Gloucester, Clerk of the Closet to the Queen, and in 1706 Dean of Rochester. He died in 1728, aged seventy-one.

Merchant Taylors'.

Portrait of Franklin.—I have heard of a story to the effect that when Franklin left England, he presented a portrait of himself, by West, to Thurlow. I am exceedingly anxious to know if there is any foundation for this, as during the last week I saw in a shop near the chapel here, a portrait of the philosopher which I rather suspect to be the one alluded to.

H. G. D.

Knightsbridge.

"Enquiry into the State of the Union."—A book of much importance has fallen into my hands, entitled—

"An Enquiry into the State of the Union of Great Britain. The past and present State of the public Revenues. By the Wednesday's Club in Friday Street. London: printed for A. and W. Bell, at the Cross Keys, Cornhill; J. Watts, in Bow Street, Covent Garden: and sold by B. Barker and C. King, in Westminster Hall; W. Mears and J. Brown, without Temple Bar; and W. Taylor, in Paternoster Row. 1717."

Can any of your correspondents throw a light upon this Wednesday's Club, in Friday Street? Was it a real club or fictitious?

By so doing you would greatly oblige me, and afford important information to this office.

James A. Davies.

National Debt Office.

Minor Queries with Answers

Bishop of Oxford in 1164.—Among the names of the bishops who signed the Constitutions of Clarendon I see "Bartholomeus Oxoniensis Episcopus." How is this signature accounted for? There are no other signatures of suffragan or inferior bishops attached.

W. Fraser.

Tor-Mohun.

[Clearly a misprint for Bartholomeus Exoniensis Episcopus, the celebrated Bartholomew Iscanus, the opponent of Thomas à Becket. Our correspondent should have given the title of the work where he found the signatures, as they are not appended to the "Constitutions" in Matthew Paris, Spelman, or Wilkins.]

Roman Inscription found at Battle Bridge.—I shall be very much obliged if any one of your numerous readers or correspondents will be so kind as to furnish me with an authentic copy of the inscription on the Roman stone which in July 1842 was found at Battle Bridge, St. Pancras, and also state where the original stone is to be seen. The account of the discovery of the stone is mentioned in a paragraph which appeared in The Times newspaper of the 30th July, 1842, in the following manner:

"Antiquities discovered.—A Roman inscription has within these few days past been discovered at Battle Bridge, otherwise, by an absurd change of denomination, known as King's Cross, New Road, St. Pancras. This discovery appears fully to justify the conjectures of Stukeley and other antiquaries, that the great battle between the Britons under Boadicea and the Romans under Suetonius Paulinus took place at this spot. Faithful tradition, in the absence of all decisive evidence, still pointed to the place by the appellation of Battle Bridge. The inscription, which in parts is much obliterated, bears distinctly the letters 'LEG. XX.' The writer of this notice has not yet had an opportunity personally to examine it, but speaks from the information of an antiquarian friend. The twentieth legion, it is well known, was one of the four which came into Britain in the reign of Claudius, and contributed to its subjugation: the vexillation of this legion was in the army of Suetonius Paulinus when he made that victorious stand in a fortified pass, with a forest in his rear, against the insurgent Britons. The position is sketched by Tacitus, and antiquaries well know that on the high ground above Battle Bridge there are vestiges of Roman works, and that the tract of land to the north was formerly a forest. The veracity of the following passage of Tacitus is therefore fully confirmed:—'Deligitque locum artis faucibus, et a tergo sylva clausum; satis cognito, nihil hostium, nisi in fronte, et apertam planitiem esse, sine metu insidiarum.' He further tells us that the force of Suetonius was composed of 'Quartadecima legio cum vexillariis vicessimariis et e proximis auxiliares.'"

S. R.

[A sketch of this fragment of stone, discovered by Mr. E. B. Price, is given in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1842, p. 144.]

Blow-shoppes.—

"Wild bores, bulls, and falcons bredde there in times paste; now, for lakke of woodde, blow-shoppes decay there."—Leland's Itin., Hearne's edit., vol. vii. p. 42.

What is the meaning of blow-shoppe?

J. B.

[Leland appears to refer to blacksmiths' forges, which decayed for lack of wood.]

Bishop Hesketh (Vol. vii., p 209.).—There is evidently an error in your note respecting the death of Bishop Hesketh, but it is one common to all the lists of Manx bishops to which I have access. You state that he died in 1510: it is certain that he was living in 1520.

He was a son of Robert Hesketh, of Rufford, co. Lanc., and his brother Richard Hesketh, "learned in the lawe," and who is stated by Kimber to have been Attorney-General to King Hen. VIII., by his will, dated 15th August, 1520, appointed his "trusty brethren Hugh, bishopp of Manne, and Thomas Hesketh, esquier," executors, and proceeded:

"I wyll that the said Bishopp shall haue a goblett of syluer wt a couir, and my said brothir Thomas to haue a pouncid bool of syluer, a counterpoynt, and a cordyn gemnete bedde wt the hangings, a paire of fustyan blanketts, and a paire of shetys, and a fether bedde that lyeth uppon the same bedde, for their labours."

So that the vacancy, if there really was any, between his death and the consecration of Bishop Stanley, is much less than is generally supposed.

H. A.

[Our authority for the date of Bishop Hesketh's death was Bishop Hildesley's MS. list of the Manx bishops, which he presented to the British Museum, and which appears to have been carefully compiled. His words are, "Huan Hesketh died 1510, and was buried in his cathedral of St. Germans in Peel." It is clear, however, there is an error somewhere, which did not escape the notice of William Cole, the Cambridge antiquary; for in his MS. Collections, vol. xxvi. p. 24., he has the following entry:—"Huan Hesketh was living 13 Henry VIII., 1531, at which time Thomas Earl of Derby appointed, among others, Sir Hugh Hesketh, Bishop of Man, to be one of his executors. (See Collins's Peerage, vol. ii. p. 33.) Wolsey was appointed supervisor of the will, and is in it called Lord Chancellor: he was so made 1516, which proves that he was alive after 1510. The will of Richard Hesketh, Esq.—to be buried in his chapel at Rufford: executors, Hugh Hesketh, Bishop of Man, his brother; and Thomas Hesketh, Esq.—was proved Nov. 13, 1520. (In Reg. Manwaring, 3.) He continued bishop, I presume, forty-three years, from 1487 to 1530. It is plain he was so thirty-four years."]

Form of Prayer for Prisoners.—

"It is not, perhaps, generally known, that we have a form of prayer for prisoners, which is printed in the Irish Common Prayer-Book, though not in ours. Mrs. Berkeley, in whose preface of prefaces to her son's poems I first saw this mentioned, regrets the omission; observing, that the very fine prayer for those under sentence of death, might, being read by the children of the poor, at least keep them from the gallows. The remark is just."—Southey's Omniana, vol. i. p. 50.

What Irish Common Prayer-Book is here meant? I have the books issued by the late Ecclesiastical History Society, but do not see the service among them. Could the prayer referred to be transferred to "N. & Q.;" or where is the said Irish Prayer-Book to be found?

Thomas Lawrence.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

[The Book of Common Prayer according to the use of the Church of Ireland, we believe, may frequently be met with. An edition in folio, 1740, is in the British Museum, containing "The Form of Prayer for the Visitation of Prisoners, treated upon by the Archbishops and Bishops, and the rest of the Clergy of Ireland, and agreed upon by Her Majesty's License in their Synod, holden at Dublin in the Year 1711." We are inclined to think that Mrs. Berkeley must have intended its beautiful exhortation—not the prayer—for the use of the poor. See "N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 246.]

Replies

EDMUND SPENSER, AND SPENSERS, OR SPENCERS, OF HURSTWOOD

(Vol. vii., pp. 303. 362.)

Without entering on the question as to possible connexion of the poet with the family above mentioned, the discussion may be simplified by solving a difficulty suggested by Cliviger (p. 362.), arising from Hurstwood Hall (another estate in Hurstwood) having been possessed by Townley, and by explaining, 1st, The identity of the tenement once owned by Spencers; 2ndly, The seeming cause of Whitaker's silence; and, 3rdly, The certainty of possession by the Spencers.

I. The former estate of the Spencers in Hurstwood is a tenement which was purchased by the late Rev. John Hargreaves from the representatives of William Ormerod, of Foxstones, in Cliviger, in 1803, and which had been conveyed in 1690, by John Spencer, then of Marsden, to Oliver Ormerod of Hurstwood, and his son Laurence; the former of these being youngest son, by a second marriage, of Peter Ormerod of Ormerod, and co-executor of his will in 1650. So much for the locality.

II. As for Dr. Whitaker's silence, I know, from correspondence with him (1808-1816), that, from an irregularity in the Prerogative Office, he was not aware of this will, and uninformed as to this second marriage, or the connexion of this purchaser's family with the parent house; and I think it as probable that he was as unaware of the ancient possession of the purchased tenement by Spencers, as it is certain that this theory as to the connexion of the poet with it was then unknown. If otherwise, he would doubtless have extended his scale, and included it.

III. As to the certainty of possession by Spencers, I have brief extracts from deeds as to this tenement as follows:—

1677. Indenture of covenants for a fine, between John Spencer the elder, and Oliver Ormerod of Cliviger, and note of fine.

1687. Will of same John Spencer, late of Hurstwood, mentioning possession of this tenement as the inheritance of his great-grandfather, Edmund Spencer.

1689. Family arrangements of John Spencer (the son) as to same tenement, then in occupation of "Oliver Ormeroyde" before mentioned.

1690. Conveyance from John Spencer to O. and L. O., as before mentioned.

In Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1842 (pp. 141, 142.), will be found numerous notices of these Spencers or Spensers, with identified localities from registers.

I think that this explanation will solve the difficulty suggested by Cliviger. On the main question I have not grounds sufficient for an opinion, but add a reference to Gentleman's Magazine, March, 1848, p. 286., for a general objection by Mr. Crossley, President of the Chetham Society, who is well acquainted with the locality.

Lancastriensis.

I was about to address some photographic Queries to the correspondents of "N. & Q." when a note caught my attention relating to Edmund Spenser (in the Number dated March 26.). The Mr. F. F. Spenser mentioned therein was related to me, being my late father's half-brother. I regret to say that he died very suddenly at Manchester, Nov. 2, 1852. During his lifetime, he took much pains to clear up the doubts about the locality of the poet's retirement, and his relatives in the North; and has made out a very clear case, I imagine. On a visit to Yorkshire in 1851, I spent a few days with him, and took occasion to urge the necessity of arranging the mass of information he had accumulated on the subject; which I have no doubt he would have done, had not his sudden death occurred to prevent it. These facts may be of some interest to biographers of the poet, and with this object I have ventured to trouble you with this communication.

J. B. Spencer.

11. Montpellier Road, Blackheath.

THROWING OLD SHOES FOR LUCK

(Vol. ii., p. 196.; Vol. v., p. 413.; Vol. vii., pp. 193. 288.)

I do not know whether you will permit me to occupy a small portion of your valuable space in an attempt to suggest an origin of the custom of throwing an old shoe after a newly married bride.

Your correspondents assume that the old shoe was thrown after the bride for luck, and for luck only. I doubt whether it was so in its origin.

Among barbarous nations, all transfers of property, all assertions and relinquishments of rights of dominion, were marked by some external ceremony or rite; by which, in the absence of written documents, the memory of the vulgar might be impressed. When, among Scandinavian nations, land was bought or sold, a turf was delivered by the trader to the purchaser: and among the Jews, and probably among other oriental nations, a shoe answered the same purpose.

In Psalm lx., beginning with "O God, thou hast cast me off," there occurs the phrase, "Moab is my washpot, over Edom have I cast out my shoe." Immediately after it occurs the exclamation, "O God! who has cast us off!" A similar passage occurs in Psalm cix.

By this passage I understand the Psalmist to mean, that God would thoroughly cast off Edom, and cease to aid him in war or peace. This interpretation is consistent with the whole tenor of the Psalm.

The receiving of a shoe was an evidence and symbol of asserting or accepting dominion or ownership; the giving back a shoe, the symbol of rejecting or resigning it.

Among the Jews, the brother of a childless man was bound to marry his widow: or, at least, he "had the refusal of her," and the lady could not marry again till her husband's brother had formally rejected her. The ceremony by which this rejection was performed took place in open court, and is mentioned in Deut. xxv. If the brother publicly refused her, "she loosed his shoe from off his foot, and spat in his face;" or, as great Hebraists translate it, "spat before his face." His giving up the shoe was a symbol that he abandoned all dominion over her; and her spitting before him was a defiance, and an assertion of independence. This construction is in accordance with the opinions of Michaelis, as stated in his Laws of Moses, vol. ii. p. 31.

This practice is still further illustrated by the story of Ruth. Her nearest kinsman refused to marry her, and to redeem her inheritance: he was publicly called on so to do by Boaz, and as publicly refused. And the Bible adds, "as it was the custom in Israel concerning changing, that a man plucked off his shoe and delivered it to his neighbour," the kinsman plucked off his shoe and delivered it to Boaz as a public renunciation of Ruth, of all dominion over her, and of his right of pre-marriage.

These ceremonies were evidently not unknown to the early Christians. When the Emperor Wladimir made proposals of marriage to the daughter of Raguald, she refused him, saying, "That she would not take off her shoe to the son of a slave."

There is a passage in Gregory of Tours (c. 20.) where, speaking of espousals, he says, "The bridegroom having given a ring to the fiancée, presents her with a shoe."

From Michelet's Life of Luther we learn, that the great reformer was at the wedding of Jean Luffte. After supper, he conducted the bride to bed, and told the bridegroom that, according to common custom, he ought to be master in his own house when his wife was not there: and for a symbol, he took off the husband's shoe, and put it upon the head of the bed—"afin qu'il prit ainsi la domination et gouvernement."