Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/16

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. JULY 4, im

4. Was the blue falcon ever a cognizance of the Davidsons, as Scott says in ' The Fair Maid of Perth,' and does the eagle's head crest of Tulloch refer to that ?

Replies should be addressed to me care of Mr. William Bryce, Bookseller, Edinburgh.

CLANN DHAI.

ROMANS AT YORK. In Sir H. Drummond Wolff's ' Rambling Recollections,' the follow- ing passage occurs :

" On my way to Scotland I was detained at York for two days in the height of summer. In the day- time the streets were perfectly empty, but in the evening the whole population turned out, and the town was almost impassable. This habit was one that I had only previously seen in Italy. Later, when travelling, I met a gentleman I think his name was Mr. Wallace who seemed to have a great deal of antiquarian knowledge. I told him what I had noticed in York, and he replied, ' The reason is that for more than forty years a Koman legion was quartered there. Since then the in- habitants of York all have Roman noses, while Yorkshiremen are generally inclined to be snub- nosed.' With me, he attributed the fact of the streets being crowded during the summer evenings to the same cause."

It would be interesting to know (1) whether the Roman legion stationed at York was composed of Italians, (2) whether the citizens of York go out in the evening more than those of other towns, (3) whether their noses are more " Roman " than the average. From my own recollection I should answer the last two questions in the negative.

LAWRENCE PHILLIPS.

GOLDSBOROUGH FAMILY OF STAPLEFORD, HERTS. I shall be greatly obliged by any information concerning this family : they appear to have lived at Benwick Hall, Stapleford, in the seventeenth century.

From Gatfield's 'Guide' it seems that a history of the Goldsborough family was in course of compilation some years ago. Was this ever completed ?

H. P. POLLARD.

Bengeo, Hertford.

JOHNSONIANA. Authority is wanted for the following anecdote of Dr. Johnson. At the dinner-table the Doctor on one occasion took a mouthful of hot soup and imme- diately returned it to his plate, remarking to his neighbour, " A fool would have swal- lowed that." BAHAMIAN.

MAPS. Where can I ascertain the dates of the earliest copies of the maps illustrating Strabo, Ptolemy, &c. ? Are any of the existing maps copied from ancient ones ? YGREC.

GORDONS OF MESSINA. The ' Dizio- narip Storico Blasonico ' of noble Italian families (1886) mentions Gordone di Messina. The family is said to have had a Scots origin and settled in Messina with the baronial itle of Camastra in 1702. What is known of it ? J. M. BULLOCH.

BURIAL-GROUND OF ST. GEORGE'S, HAN- OVER SQUARE, BAYSWATER ROAD. I am engaged in some genealogical research, and [ am desirous of knowing whether any Drinted list of inscriptions on tombstones n this burial-ground has ever been pub- Dished, or whether any manuscript list is in existence. My inquiry refers more particu- larly to the early part of the nineteenth century. A. F. H.

ASKEW OR AYSCOUGH FAMILY. I shall be greatly obliged by information, or sug- gestions as to the source of information, concerning the descendants of the family to which Anne Askew, the martyr, belonged. I have a special interest in the subject, having been always led to suppose that I am descended from that family. My great- grandfather married a Miss Askew in Cum- berland, and the Christian names Anne Askew are common among my relations.

E. W.

HENRY ELLISON. I should like to know something of this writer, some half a dozen of whose sonnets Leigh Hunt had the insight to include in his ' Book of the Sonnet/ which was published in 1867 by Sampson Low & Co. Neither Mr. Sharp nor Mr. Waddington thought Ellison deserving of inclusion in their several anthologies.

M. L. R. BRESLAR.

Percy House, South Hackney.

SEARLE OR SERLE OF EPPING. Can any of your readers give me genealogical informa- tion regarding this Essex family, which apparently nourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or refer me to any record, printed or otherwise, where I can find a pedigree ? SIGMA TAU.

DE ST. PHILIBERT. I should be glad to receive some genealogical particulars as to Roger and Hugh de Sancto Philiberto, who were parties to a Fine (1 July, 1206) concern- ing land in Bray in Berkshire, in Welles in Norfolk, and in Tremerdred (Tremodred in Duloe) in Cornwall. On 8 May, 1244, Hugh was concerned with Robert Rastel in a Fine dealing with Lantonnan in Cornwall. J. HAMBLEY ROWE, M.B.