Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/231

 io" s. V.MARCH io, 1906.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

187

this purpose ifc is proposed to revive a loca place-name, Durham Yard would be pre ferable. John Street covers the site oi Durham Yard (vide * Plan of the Parish oi St. Martin-in-the-Field, 1710,' Grace Collec- tion ; also The Builder, 6 Dec., 1902, p. 518).

Another peculiar change of name was made in the earliest days of this great improve- ment. Before me is an "assignment by way of mortgage," dated 20 August, 1782, given by William, John, Robert, and James Adam to Lewis Teissier to secure a loan of 1,500. on part of the property then built. The houses are indicated as 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9, "Royal Taras" (sic\ &c. It would be interesting to know when the present name of Adelphi Terrace was first applied. The older name has escaped the notice of Mr. Wheatley ( l The Adelphi and its Site ').

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

39, Hillmarton Road, N!

BLACKGUARD AND THE * N.E.D.' I do not know whether reference has been made in this connexion to an inquisition post mortem entered on the Middlesex Sessions Rolls (J. C. Jeaffreson, ' Middlesex County Re- cords,' i. [1886], 4) under date 8 Aug., 1550. It was on the body of Ralph Crofte, alias Crof tes, of the said parish, ** maryner," alias Ralph Crofte or Crof tes, "one of the Kynges Maiesties Blake Balye," then lying dead.

Q. V.

" DOG'S NOSE." This mixture of gin and beer is mentioned in * Pickwick ' by Dickens, but the quantities required of each are not given. I had it from an old tippling ostler of the Dickensian type that a true "dog's nose" is "ahaporth o 3 beer to a pennorth o'gin." This was the amount of each of his "tots," and he did not mind how often such came in his earlier days of work as a groom on the Great North Road.

THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worktop.

CENTENARIAN VOTERS. (See 9 th S. vi. 366.) The following extracts from The Daily Chronicle show that several centenarians voted at the recent general election :

''Amongst those who voted in East Down was John Kelly, a man 108 years of age, whilst a voter in North Tyrone was 102."

"Aged 102, an elector recorded his vote at St. Mary's School, Lewisham."

" The voters at St. Columb Minor, nearNewquay, Cornwall, included the veteran parish clerk, Mr. James Carne, now in his hundreth year."

R. J. FYNMORE.

Sandgate.

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.

THE GERMAN EMPEROR AND POETS LAUREATE. Isaac D'lsraeli, in his * Curiosi- ties of Literature,' speaking of Poets Laureate, says: "The Emperor of Germany retains the Laureateship in all its splendour. The selected bard is called ilpoeta Cesario"

Taking it for granted that D'lsraeli was a reliable authority on literary subjects, espe- cially such as come under the head of "curiosities," I quoted the above statement in my ' History of British Poetry.'

An eminent member of the Royal Belgian Academy has written to me on the subject, casting a doubb on the accuracy of the assertion. He also says :

"It seems very doubtful to me whether the German Emperor would give an Italian title to the holder of a post of honour in his empire. Therefore I consulted a German scholar, whose answer to my question runs as follows : * The passage referred to in Corbett's * History of British Poetry ' is, without a doubt, wrong. It is well known that the German Emperor favours a few poets, as, f.i, Wildenbruch, Jos. Lauff (author of Hohenzollern dramas, &c.). There cannot be any question what- ever of a crowning, though. Neither did any of my colleagues of whom I inquired know anything of an institution of the kind. There must doubtlessly exist a mistake on this head. Possibly Mr. Corbett was thinking of the Emperors of the Middle Ages, who crowned several poets. But then the word "retains" would not be right. % Perhaps he has been thinking of the festive performances at Wies- baden, where every year dramas by Lauff are per- formed, the last time *' Burggraf von Niirnberg," on which occasions the Emperor honours the author by his special attention.' But of a crowning of the poet there can be no possible question. I at least can find no proof."

As it is not my accuracy, but that of D'lsraeli, which is called in question, the matter is interesting, and I shall be grateful if any of your readers can throw light upon the subject. Presumably D'lsraeli had some reason for making the statement. I have consulted some of the most eminent authori- ties on this side of the Channel, but, like myself, they are unable either to confirm or contradict the assertion.

F. ST. JOHN CORBETT.

The Rectory, St. George-in-the-East.

" MUCKIBTJS." Writing to George Mon-

agu from Arlington Street, on 20 April, 1756,

Horace Walpole speaks of meeting Maria

Gunning, Lady Coventry, "at a great supper "

at Lord Hertford's :