Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/229

 io» 8. iv. SEPT. 2.1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 187 Grahame, James.—The Siege of Copenhagen, a Poem. London.—4to, 6 leaves, 1808. Printed in Edinburgh. (See 'D.N.B..' xxii. 366.) Maxey, Samuel, Esq.—The Victory of Trafalgar, a Naval Ode. Commemorative and Descriptive of British Heroism. Second Edition. London.—4to, 18 leaves (1808). Dated St. Albana, 15 Jan., 1808. Taylor, George, of the Bank of England.—An Elegy on the lamented, though glorious Death of Horatio, Lord Viscount Nelson London.—8vo, 4 leaves, 1805. Tremenheere, Rev. Wm., A.B., late chaplain to H.M. late ship the Valiant.—Verses on the Victory of Trafalgar ; and the Death and Funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson. London.—4to, 6 leaves, no date. Dedicated to Frederic, Earl of Carlisle, who had just published some verses on Trafalgar. W. C. B. SEA WALLS : PUNISHMENT FOR NEGLECTING THEIR EEPAIR.—Mr. W. H. Wheeler, in his ' History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire,' quotes Harrison as saying, in his preface to Holinshed's ' Chronicle,1 that " such as, having walls or banks near unto the sea, do suffer the same to decay, after convenient ad- monition, whereby the water entereth anddrowneth up the country, are by a certain ancient custom apprehended, condemned and staked in i lit; breach, where they remain for ever a parcel of the new wall that is to be made upon them, as I have heard reported.''—P. 40. Harrison, so far as I am at present able to make out, is the earliest authority for this, and he only speaks of it as a report. I shall be very much obliged to any one who can furnish me with earlier evidence. In a paper by the Rev. F. C. J. Spurrell in the Archceologia Cantiana relating to Dartford, I find the following, which, though it is by no means a proof of what Harrison had heard, tends to make the statement less improbable than it otherwise would be :— "In early times, the Roman way crossed the marsh untroubled by the tide. Afterwards, the tide having advanced further inland, the road was raised, becoming a causeway. In mediaeval times this bank was heightened against the tide, the road running inside as at present. During a section made a few years ago through this road, near Stidolph's house, I saw a human skeleton extended across the bank, about two feet below the present surface. This is, of course, a strange situation; but looking to the fact that it was a tide wall, it is possible that the once owner of the skeleton had the duty of repairing the bank, and having let the tide through by his neglect was placed in the breach, thus helping to repair it while suffering punish- ment. Mr. S. Smiles has mentioned that such a mode of dealing was a mediaeval custom. However, I know not how far the ancient graveyard extended hereabout, so that the body, which showed no signs of burial, might yet have been buried in sacred ground." EDWARD PEACOCK. CZECHS AND GERMANS.—The age-long anta- gonism of the Teuton and Slav of Central Europe is continued when both have travelled far from home and pitched tents in a new world. In his work on the conditions of the poor of New York entitled ' How the Other Half Lives' (New York, 1904), Mr. Jacob A. Iliis writes in his chapter on the Bohemians :— "The two races mingle no more on this side of the Atlantic than on the rugged slopes of the Buhemian mountains; the echoes of the Thirty Years' War ring in New York, after two centuries and a half, with as fierce a hatred as the gigantic combat bred among the vanquished Czechs The Bohemian clergyman who spoke for his people at the Christian Conference held in Chickeriug Hall two years ago took even stronger ground. ' They are Roman Catholics by birth, infidels by necessity, and Protestants by history and inclination.' " This is accounted for by the complete isolation of the Bohemian immigrant, due partly to what Mr. Riis rather unfairly calls his "harsh and unattractive" language, to pride of race, and to an unjust imputation of being a public disturbing element. Those best acquainted with the Czechs know that at heart they are deeply religious, even if they affect a Gallio-like attitude towards the churches, and criminal statistics show that few wrongdoers are to be found in their ranks. Like their fellow-Slavs, the Bohemians complain bitterly of aspersions cast upon them by other peoples. FRANCIS P. MARCHANT. Qiuri.es. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. ETON SCHOOL LISTS.—Can any one give me information with regard to the existence of early MS. Eton School Lists ? Within the last two years a considerable number have been brought to light, and my collection now includes transcripts for the following dates: 1678, 1706-7, 1718, 1725, 1728, 1732, 1742,1745, 1747, 1752-4, 1756-70, 1772-3, and 1775-91, after which they were regularly printed each year. I should be glad to fill up any of the gaps, or even to hear of duplicates for the above-mentioned years. R. A. AUSTEN LEIGH. 5, New Street Square, B.C. ' THE HIGHWAYMAN'S PARTING SONG.'— Where can I find the words (if they are in print) of a song once known as 'The High- wayman's Parting Song,' and beginning I was a wild and a wicked youth ? I know no more than the first line. R. E. FRANCILLON.