Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/311

 HP s. m. APRIL i, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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am not sure which is most correct. The oldest authority I have at hand, John Lawson, in his 'History of Carolina,' 1714, writes " Pampticough River " (p. 60).

JAS. PL ATT, Jun.

LOCAL ' NOTES AND QUERIES' (10 th S. iii. 108). The Somerset County Herald and The Taunton Courier devote a couple of columns to ' Notes and Queries ' each week, and have done so for several years past. The con- tributors confine their attention mainly to Somerset matters. Both papers are pub- lished at Taunton.

Some years ago The Somerset County Gazette (another Taunton paper) also had a ' Notes and Queries ' column ; but it has long been discontinued. C. T.

In The Hertfordshire Jlercury, published at Hertford, there appears every month a column entitled ' Hertfordshire Archaeo- logical Notes and Queries.' This feature is now in the sixth year of its existence.

W. B. GERISH.

Bishop's Stortford.

COLISEUMS OLD AND NEW (10 th S. ii. 485, 529 ; iii. 52, 1 16, 189). In nearly all the interest- ing notes this query elicited the importance of the building as a show place for panoramas and dioramas only has been realized. But, at least between 1836 and 1840, the evening entertainment was the greater attraction, and the "Stupendous Picture of London" and Swiss Cottage, then only open during the day, were gradually omitted from the bill. As MR. SMJTHERS informs us, the price of admission changed from 3s. 6d. to Is, but in 1838 there was an important alteration :

"The attention of the ^Nobility, Gentry, and the Public in general is most respectfully invited to the following Alterations and Improvements ; Eighteen Private Boxes have been added, and a portion of the room appropriated as Stalls, to which there is a separate entrance. The whole has been arranged with a view to afford convenience to the fashionable arid distinguished visitors of this Establishment."

These private boxes at two guineas and one and a half guineas, and the stalls at 5s., could be secured at Sam's, Mitchell's, and other libraries. " Room Seats " were 3s. Other changes in these prices took place, and in 1840 admission to the boxes was 2s., to the pit Is. The entertainment in July, 1840, differed very little, if at all, from what was being offered at "The Grecian," "Surrey Gardens," and similar places. The bill is headed " Royal Colosseum Theatre and Saloon of Mirrors." Commencing at 7.30, there was a concert; a farce, 'Sea Sharks and Land Clerks '; a burletta, ' My Mountain

Home,' in addition to interludes and dances, the whole concluding with 'The Statute Fair.' This was alternated with a slightly different performance, and on Tuesday and Friday there were balls.

This information, gathered from a small collection of playbills in my possession, is sufficient to uphold the repute of the old Colosseum as a place of varied entertainment, and not only an exhibition hall for pano- ramas. ALECK ABRAHAMS

39, Hillmarton Road, N.

DE KELESEYE OR KELSEY FAMILY (10 th S. ii. 188, 275). See Giles de Kelseye, 1377, 3 rd S. vi. 104; 7 th S. xii. 86. " Kelseys, in Beckenham, Kent, is a seat of note, which as early as the reign of Henry III. had owners of that name" (Hasted's 'Hist. Kent,' vol. i. p. 538, 8vo edit.). R. J. FYNMORE.

"A SHOULDER OF MUTTON BROUGHT HOME

FROM FRANCE" (10 th S. ii. 48, 158, 236, 292, 374). The house where the cork model of the man running away with the Monument was displayed was that of an "eminently worthy of prominent mention " cork manufacturer, Thomas Smith, No. 5, Eastcheap, whence he appears to have removed ;to 16, Garlick Hill, the address given in the ' London Directory ' for 1894. Mr. Thomas Smith seems to have been the leading "retail, wholesale, and export" cork-cutter in the City, the business itself having been established on the spot so early as about the year 1786. The grotesque model used to attract a great deal of attention, for it was of a very comical and clever design, and I think I remember seeing it so late as 1890.

There was another drollery associated with the old " White Swan " tavern, nearly opposite, in King William Street. In the month of May, 1718, one James Austin, "inventor of the Persian ink powder," de- siring to give his customers a substantial proof of his gratitude, invited them to the " Boar's Head " to partake of an immense plum-pudding, which weighed 1,000 lb., of a baked pudding one foot square, and the best piece of an ox roasted. The principal dish was put in the copper on Monday, 12 May, at the "Red Lion Inn," by the Mint in South- wark, and had to boil fourteen days. Thence it was to be brought to the "Swan" tavern on Fish Street Hill, accompanied by a band of music. It was 18 ft. 2 in. in length, and 4ft. in diameter, and was drawn by " a device fixed on six asses." Finally, this monstrous pudding was to be divided in St. George's Fields, but apparently its fragrance was too much for the gluttony of the crowd. The