Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/232

 190 NOTES AND QUERIES. cio* s. iv. SEPT. 2, UK. CHARLES READE'S GRANDMOTHER. (10th S. ii. 344.) MISLED by the article on Major John Scott, afterwards Scott - Waring, in the ' D.N.B.' (li. 46-7), though the mistake is noted in the volume of errata, I wrongly named this lady (Elizabeth Blackrie) as the Major's second wife, whereas she was his first. Her portrait (as the Rev. Compton Iteade tells me) was at Ipsden in a miniature only. As the Major descended from the Wycherleys, it was only natural that both he and his grandson, Charles Reade, should have a passion for the stage. Soon after the death of his first wife, in 1796, the Major married Maria, daughter and heiress of Jacob Hughes, of Cashel, and as the Major took the additional surname of Waring in 1798 she would, of course, be known as Mrs. Scott-Waring. She had been an actress, chiefly in Ireland, though pos- sessed of some fortune. In 1800 John Russell exhibited at the Royal Academy his charm- ing picture of her and her two children. The whereabouts of the picture remained un- known until four or five years ago, when it turned up in Christie's sale-room, and was bought for a small sum by Mr. Hodgkins, the Bond Street dealer, who placed it in his window and asked 800/. for it. The inevitable American eventually secured it. Mrs. Maria Scott - Waring died of an apoplectic fit 3 February, 1812, at Peterborough House, Parsons Green, Fulham, where the Major resided from 1807 till 1813, when he removed to Half Moon Street, Piccadilly. Of the two children shown in the picture, the boy, John Thurloe Scott-Waring, became a lieutenant in the army 31 March. 1814, and as an officer of the 28th (or the North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot bore his part at Waterloo, being placed on half-pay 15 August, 181G. The girl, Laura Augusta Hastings Scott- Waring, inheriting the parental passion, took to the stage for a time, but in 1818 became the wife of the Rev. Percival Frye, succes- sively rector of Dinsdale, co. Durham, minister of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, Middlesex, and vicar of St. Winnow, Corn- wall. The Major soon consoled himself by marrying as his third wife, on 15 October, 1812, Harriet Pye Esten, a widow (Feret, 'Fulham Old and New,' ii. 154). She had likewise been an actress, and her disputes with Stephen Kemble over the lease of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in 1792 and 1793 are recorded in the ' D.N.B.' (xxx. 382). At that time she was separated from her husband, and residing with her mother, Mrs. Rennet. Her case was supported by Douglas, eighth Duke of Hamilton, whose mistress she had been. Her daughter by the Duke, Anne Douglas Hamilton, was married 25 January, 1820, to Henry Robert, third Baron Rossmore of Monaghan, and died childless on 20 August, 1844. Another daughter of hers (presumably by her hus- band), Harriet Hunter Wildman Esten, was married 21 December, 1809, at St. George's, Hanover Square, to Thomas Darby Coven- try, Esq., of Henley-upon-Thames (Registers, Harleian Soc., ii. 420). Mrs. Esten was then described as a widow. Her portraits in the Burnoy Collection, British Museum, dated 1793, 1794, and 1804, are those of a handsome woman; but her career may have justified the epigram which Sheridan is said to have uttered upon hearing of her marriage with Major Scott-Waring. While on the subject of the correct identi- fication of portraits, may I point out that the lady whose picture appears at p. 74 of Mr. George C. Williamson's life of 'John Russell, R.A.'(1894). as 'Mrs. Topham, 1791,' was, in fact, Mrs. Mary Wells (nee Davies), the well-known actress and beauty, who lived with Major Edward Tophara and had children by him, but was subsequently abandoned for another divinity ? Russell had likewise portrayed her as Maud in O'Keefe's play of ' Peeping Tom,' a part which she created. Both •' Mrs. Topham 3 and Mrs. Wells are treated of as totally different personages in Mr. Williamsons work. GORDON GOODWIN. YORKSHIRE DIALECT (10th S. iv. 102,170).— We must all be grateful to MR. DUNNIXGTON- JEFFERSON for his interesting paper. May I ask him a few questions? Is siping*= soaking related etymplogically to sop, soppy, and soap ? Is smiMe^ infectious related to smell ? The master key is good and familiar Eng- lish. Did it come to us through Yorkshire t Can tewed be etymologicalTy connected with tired ? Is wankliny related to weak, G. gchwach and schwank, or to wean 1 1 submit that it is not easy to distinguish a ditch from a bank, the fosse from the vallum, a valley from a hill, or where the road goes up from where it goes down ; so super and suiter are related. Does the bar in barguests relate to a barred opening before glass was commonly aged T The first impression on waking is a critical