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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. i. JAN. 23, MM.

MISTLETOE IN CHURCH. The only vegetable decoration visible on 11 January in the thirteenth-century cathedral of Chalons-sur- Marne, the ancient capital of the Catalauni (whose name may perhaps have some con- nexion with that of the Catalans of South- Eastern Spain, and whose bishop is still called " Episcopus Cathalaunensis "), was a fine plant of mistletoe, on a section of the branch which had fostered it. This was laid upon the two nails in the feet of the large white image of the crucifix attached to the east wall of the northern transept of that beautiful church. It is not without interest to note this offering of the emblem of the Druids at the feet of the Founder of the Church.

E. S. DODGSON.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation 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.

THOMAS STRADLING. So far as I am aware everything that has been printed about the man who bore this name is to be found in the accounts of William Dampier's unsuccessful expedition to the South Seas in 1703. In the works of William Funnell and Woodes Rogers we are informed that he was first a mate and afterwards master of the ship Cinque Ports Galley ; that he was obliged to abandon this ehip off the island of Gorgona ; and that he was subsequently detained in prison for many years by the Spaniards in Peru, whence he escaped in a French ship. He won a little renown because it was after a quarrel with him that the well-known Alexander Selkirk, the prototype of Robin- son Crusoe, was set on shore on the unin- habited island of Juan Fernandez.

From French MS. documents I have ascer- tained that he was taken to Europe on 28 August, 1710, in the ship Notre Dame de 1'Assomption, captain Alain Pore'e; that he was kept in prison, first at the castle of Saint-Malo, subsequently in that of Dinan, till 8 October, 1711, when, with seventeen other Englishmen, he escaped, being seen some time afterwards at Jersey. He is stated to have been twenty-nine years old at that time, and the son of a merchant in London who was then still living. Can any one tell me further incidents of his life and the date of his death ? E. W. DAHLGREN,

Director of the Royal Library.

Stockholm.

SIR HENRY CHAUNCY. I am engaged upon a biography of Sir Henry Chauncy with especial reference to his labours as a county historian. His great work was first published in folio in the year 1700, and was reprinted in two volumes octavo in 1826. I have occupied my leisure for the past twelve months in collecting material for this pur- pose, and I am now desirous of ascertaining whether any letters or other documents in the handwriting of Sir Henry are in exist- ence in Hertfordshire or elsewhere. Anything that may serve to illustrate his method of research would be valuable. I have had the good fortune to examine the original draft of the preface to his ' History of Hertford- shire,' which differs extensively from the printed copy. It throws light upon the

general system he pursued in compiling his escription of the county, and indicates that he must have had a very considerable corre- spondence with the owners of manors, the clergy, and others, some of which, perchance, may have been preserved. A copiously anno- tated and corrected copy of his ' History,' in the possession of the late Mr. Hale Wortham, is stated by Cussans ('Hundred of Odsey,' p. 88) to have been owned by a contemporary of Sir Henry's, the Rev. Thomas Tipping of Ardeley. I should be glad to know who is the possessor of this historically valuable copy. Another coetaneous copy owned by Mr. Pulter Forester, which descended to his son William, has been lost sight of since 1768, but may still be in existence. I understand that at a sale by Mr. Greenwood, which took place in 1790, certain of Sir Henry's books and other property were sold. There is a catalogue of this sale extant, and the loan of a copy would be greatly appreciated. Salmon seems to have obtained possession of a considerable portion of the Chauncy papers ; these after- wards fell into the hands of the Rev. Paul Wright, B.D., who in 1773 purposed pub- lishing a corrected edition of the 'History' (in 1770hestyled himself "editor of Chauncy"), but I believe it never proceeded beyond the prospectus stage. It is suggested that Clut- terbuck acquired many of these papers, but direct evidence is wanting, and even so, I have no definite knowledge into whose hands they fell at his decease, and who now owns them.

I am especially concerned to discover the circumstances relating to the painful episode alluded to in the fifth paragraph of the preface. The individual referred to was, I believe, Sir Henry's grandson, and the reasons for the estrangement, and consequent attempt of the misguided youth to wreck his