Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/136

 108

NOTES AND QUERIES, cio* s. m. FEB. n, 1905.

in 1116. Alexander de Moravia evidently held out against King Alexander in Suther- land, the country of his grandmother Ingi- biorg. Sir .Robert Gordon, in his original MS. of the 'Earldom of Sutherland,' makes an Alexander first of the family, and there can be little doubt that Alexander de Moravia was lord of Sutherland, because about 120C Hugh Freskin conveyed half of Sutherland to St. Gilbert, who gave the lands to his brother Sir Richard de Moravia, of Skelbo and Culbin. As St. Gilbert and Sir Richard were grandsons of Alexander, the princely gift can only be explained on the ground that they had some hereditary right to the district. As most of the great houses oi Murray* descend from Skelbo and Culbin it would be well to ascertain further proof of the latter's descent from Duncan, as well as the real name of Duncan's queen.

D. M. R.

FRANC-ISCUS DE PLATEA. There is an edition of the ' Explanatio in Psalterium ' by Turrecremata, of which Zapf has given an account. It is also noticed by General Hawkins in his work on early printing. It bears the imprint Craca. The British Museum has recently acquired another book viz., Franciscus de Platea, 'Restitutiones,' &c. printed in the same types as the ' Explanatio.' _ It bears the date 1475, but no place of printing, and it has a watermark, the cross-keys looped, found in books printed in^Poland. At the end of the work are two shields exactly similar in form to those used by Peter Schoeffer. The dexter shield bears the letters I H C, the sinister the single initial M. Can any reader inform me what these letters stand for 1 I am much interested in finding out. S. J. ALDEICH.

MR. FRASER RAE AND JUNITJS. The late Mr. Fraser Rae was, as is well known, a persistent investigator of the mystery surrounding the authorship of the Junius letters. Though he succeeded in putting some of the suspects out of court, he added others, and so left the question in the same perplexing obscurity. Lately in conversation he hinted that he knew who the writer of the letters was, but when asked why he did not disclose the fact he replied, " That 's a card I mean to keep up my sleeve." Among the papers Mr. Rae left behind him, can any confirmation be found for the above state- ment ? T

Bath.

JOSEPH WILFRED PARKINS. Can any of your readers tell me when this gentleman died, and where he was buried ? In his day

Joseph Parkins was a notorious character. He was elected Sheriff of London in 1819, and at the end of his term of office was censured by the Court of Common Council. Henceforth he was always known as " the Ex," or the " XXX Sheriff." For some time he was the champion of Olive, " Princess of Cumberland," and he was also on the side of Queen Caroline. During the Fauntleroy sensation he was very prominent. In 1825 he came forward as a candidate for Carlisle. For many years the London papers were full of his letters. Once he thrashed the editor of The Morning Herald ; he engaged in fisticuffs frequently with those who differed from him ; he often appeared in the law courts. When did this remarkable man die ? H. W. B.

LOCAL ' NOTES AND QUERIES.' Your American readers would often be assisted in making researches upon English topics if there was available a fairly complete list of English local Notes and Queries, including not only separate periodicals, properly so designated, but the names of newspapers conducting 'Xotes and Queries' columns. The list should give the usual bibliographical information as to style and place of publica- tion, date commenced, and date discontinued, if no longer current. I should like to see some attempts made, with the Editor's per- mission, to compile such a list.

EUGENE F. McPiKE. Chicago, U.S.

[Lists appeared 8" 1 S. ii. 423, 509, and a correction at iii. 73. The demands on our space prevent us from reprinting those lists, but room may be found for supplementary contributions, such as Yorkshire. Notes and Queries, noticed 10 th S. i. 320.]

" CARENTINILLA." This word, correctly rendered " canvas " by Trice-Martin's 'Record Interpreter ' (it is not in Du Cange), occurs not infrequently in English documents, as the material for " wool-sheets." Was it an English fabric ? The distinctive part of the name is clearly derived from quadraainta ; but does it mean that there were forty threads to the inch, or forty to the nail ? Q. V.

GOLD v. SILVER. Do the relative quantities of gold and silver known to exist correspond approximately to the relative conventional values of those metals ? A. S. P.

' GOD SAVE THE KING.' I desire a referen c e to what appeared to be an authoritative pro- nouncement, in the form of an official letter, in the public prints of 1901 or 1902, as to the roper rendering of the opening lines of PGod save the King.' Is the right version