Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/353

 10 s. xii. OCT. 9, im] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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seems to be a saying that after the first time of asking the first "spurring" the girl always limps. Is this an uncommon saying?

THOS. RATCLIFFE. Worksop.

KEBLE ON STABS REFLECTED IN ICE. The following stanza occurs in the poem for ' Confirmation ' in Keble's ' Christian Year ' :

Steady and pure as stars that beam In middle heaven, all mist above,

Seen deepest in the frozen stream ; Such is their high courageous love.

Many years ago I had the privilege of con- versing with Bishop Hamilton of Salisbury, and ventured to ask him if he could explain the meaning of this somewhat obscure verse. The Bishop replied that he also had been somewhat puzzled by it, and had asked the author for an interpretation. Keble's answer was that it was a well- ascertained fact that ice had the property of reflecting the image of stars with singular brilliance. This, however, did not seem to me to afford a full explanation of the stanza in question. Per- haps some of your readers can throw further light upon it. W. I. A. N.

BUBNELL FAMILY. I want the wife of Richard Burnell, " a Cromwellian squatter in co. Cork," whose daughter Sarah married Edward Hoare of Dunkettle, Mayor of Cork in 1686. I should be glad also to learn some- thing of the ancestry of the said Richard Burnell. KATHLEEN WARD.

Castle Ward, Downpatrick.

N. BROOKE'S * OBSERVATIONS ON ITALY,' 1798. Can any of your readers tell me something of N. Brooke and his book ? He published ' Observations on the Manners and Customs of Italy,' 1798. He dedicated it to the Duke of Leeds, and claims to have Veen employed to report officially on our trade with Italy. The book deals with Italian social life, &c. Is it trustworthy ? Brooke is not in the ' D.N.B.'

GEORGE WHALE.

HEREDITARY HERB-STREWER TO THE ROYAL FAMILY. In ' The Royal Manor of Richmond,' by Mrs. Arthur G. Bell (1907), there is a reference on p. 83 to a lady, now alive, who is

"hereditary herb-strewer to the royal family, the dignity having been conferred on her great-aunt,

daughter of, one of the King's physicians, by

George IV., who was very much attached to her."

What is this office or dignity, and is there any official authority for it ?

FRANK SCHLOESSER.

DEAN TUCKER OF GLOUCESTER. Can any reader of ' N. & Q.' tell me what pamphlet or essay of the Dean's gave rise to the fol- owing couplet from the ' ^Eneid ' on the engraved portrait of Josiah Tucker, Dean of ~ loucester ?

fatis aperit Cassandra futuris Ora, dei jussu, non unquam credita Teucris.

T. DEVONIENSIS.

'THE LAWYER OUTWITTED,' 1839-49. A. paragraph with this heading appeared in ocal Hampshire newspaper between the years 1839 and 1849, probably about 1845. The plaintiff's name in the case was Joseph Bridger. I shall feel much obliged if any reader can say where the above paragraph may be found. F. K. P.

CREST AND MOTTO. What family has the right to the following crest and motto ?

forest, a Paschal lamb couchant, having a flag parted per pale or and gules, the dexter half charged with a cross potent of the second. Motto, " Crux coronae fulcrum." HENRY BRIERLEY.

Pooley Bridge.

" MAN IN A QUART BOTTLE." A modern writer on ' Drinking Customs,' wishing to illustrate the capacity which Englishmen have always had for imbibing large quantities of intoxicants, quotes from an old playwright,

Believe it ? Believe anything ! No swal- low like an Englishman's. A man in a quart bottle or a victory, it's all one down it goes ! " The street-corner acrobat's offer to put himself inside a quart bottle is an ancient joke ; but who is the old play- wright who thus refers to it ?

HENRY FISHWICK.

The Heights, Rochdale.

WEBBER FAMILY. Henry Webber was Dean of Exeter from 26 Dec., 1459, until his death on 13 Feb., 1476/7. Is anything known respecting him and his parentage ?

Any notes on the family of Webber of Devon, Cornwall, or Somerset will be most acceptable. G. W. RICHARDS.

11, King Street, Cheapside, E.G.

NAPOLEON'S LAUREL-LEAF WREATH.- Can any one tell me in whose collection of Napoleonic relics is the leaf which was broken off the gold laurel-leaf wreath which Napoleon wore at his Coronation ? I am informed that the leaf was given by the Emperor to Isabey, who designed the wreath. It is said to be in a private collection.

O, A.

Bolton's Library, Knightsbridge, S.W.