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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XH. AUG. 21, im

NAYLOB OF CANTEBBUBY. Who was the wife of Robert Naylor of Canterbury ? Their daughter Joan (married 1564) was the mother of Richard Boyle, " the great Earl of Cork." KATHLEEN WABD.

Castle Ward, Downpatrick, Ireland.

SAMARITAN SOCIETY, LONDON. What were its objects, and does it still exist ?

XYLOGRAPHEB.

MEBDON MANOB, HURSLEY : J. WHITE. In 1707 Matthew Imber published a small book entitled ' An Abstract of the Customs of the Manor of Merdon in the Parish of Hursley, County of Southampton.' It re- lates to a lawsuit between the tenants and the lord (Oliver Cromwell). " The dispute about the customs began about 1691, and many of the tenants impowered Mr. John White as their attorney and solicitor " ; and the said Mr. White " disbursed great sums of money in defending the suit." Sarah was widow and administratrix of John White. His origin would be interest- ing, as he was ancestor of the Rev. William White, who was baptized in that church, vicar from 1747 to 1780, and there buried in the latter year. According to Foster's ' Alumni Oxon.,' he was " son of John White, gent., and matriculated at Ch. Ch., Oxford, 4 July, 1740, aged 16." Can any reader say whence came John White ?

F. H. S. Romsey.

MALTESE BEEFEATERS. In The Illus- trated Times of 16 April, 1859 (vol. viii. p. 251), is a paragraph headed ' JSTew Corps of Maltese Beefeaters.' It announces that the corps has been formed for the employ- ment of old deserving soldiers for service in the garrison of Malta.

" The new dress resembles somewhat that worn by the imposing gentlemen who conduct visitors through the metropolitan fortress, the only difference being, that instead of a crown on the breast, they have a Maltese cross, in white cloth, edged with red. These men will be em- ployed in the Governor's palace at Valetta."

On the next page is a three- quarter-length portrait of one of these Maltese Beefeaters. What is the history of this corps ?

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

RODD FAMILY. Can any reader guide me to the parentage of John Rodd, who is supposed to have been identical with John Tremayne Rodd, who married Bridget Hart Burnell, ne'e* Savery ? He lived at Barn- staple 1805-15, and migrated to Australia, where he died. PATTIE OSLER.

45, Great Russell Street, W.C.

AUTHOBS OF QUOTATIONS WANTED. Can any one inform me of the name of the author of a poem commencing

Star-trembling Night, mother of songs unsung ? I believe it has been written since the year 1900. T. CHAMBERLIN TIMS.

6, Pare Bean Terrace, St. Ives, Cornwall.

He ran a race, but never reached his goal ; He shot an arrow, but he missed his aim ; And now he lies within a lonely grave With no achievement carved above his name, R. A. POTTS.

MAYORS ELECTED IN CHURCHES. In mediaeval days the Mayor of Northampton appears to have been elected in one of the parish churches of the town ; and the same custom prevailed at Sandwich. Grantham, and Boston, and doubtless elsewhere. Can any readers give other instances ? And if so, how long was the custom kept up ?

R. M. SERJEANTSON, M.A., F.S.A.

' A SKETCH FROM NATURE.' For nearly seventy years I have been on the look-out for a poem descriptive of early rising, its pleasures and advantages. I have at last found it. It is unique, I believe, and was printed by C. Whittingham, Chiswick, on 12 April, 1814, 53 pp., 8vo. Who wrote it ? The scene is laid on the banks of the Severn, with its "tides" of "mystery." It opens with the lines

To mark the progress of the vernal dawn From ruddy gleams to universal day, What genuine friend of Nature will refuse On some auspicious morn to banish sleep And climb with me the woody-crested hills ?

JAMES HAYES, M.R.S.A.L Ennis.

DRAWBRIDGES STILL IN USE. The Press recently called attention to the fact that the drawbridge at Helmingham Hall, Suffolk, is raised nightly. Are there other instances ? Stone bridges have taken the place of the drawbridges at Ightham Mote and Leeds Castle, for example, but there may yet survive elsewhere in this country draw- bridges that are drawn up at sunset.

F. J. HARDY.

YOBKSHIBE SIMILES. I remember among keepers and others in the North Riding some forty years ago the similes " As fierce as a maggot," " Grinning like a weasel in a trap," and, of any one " got up " unusually, " Looking like a throttled earwig." Are these still common ? The expression for wishing to be at home was " I wish I had our cat by the tail." H. G. P.