Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/68

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

B. v. JAN. 20,

Coutts, of London, banker. I think there must be some error about the date 1692, for George Middleton of Campbell & Middleton was only born in 1682. K. R. Stoddart gives the tale of the ten-year-old boy taking his future father-in-law into partnership ; but, as other statements show, he was prone to listen to garrulous persons.

M. McGlLCHRIST-GlLCHRIST. 4, Queen Street, Edinburgh.

STAINES BRIDGE (10 th S. iv. 469, 536). "This bridge consists principally of three extremely flat segmental arches of granite, the middle arch being of 74 ft. span and the lateral ones 66 ft. each." This is from Bray- ley's * Surrey,' vol. ii. p. 277, and the next sentence is the comment upon the narrow- ness of the 9ft. piers, which I should like to prove or disprove. F. TURNER.

SEMPER FAMILY (10 th S. iv. 487). This name occurs very rarely in the English records which I have consulted, and I have not yet seen it once in the Irish. Though the few references found may not relate to the family of Semper of Montserrat, yet it may be worth recording instances of this un- common name.

It is found twice in the ' Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic,' of Henry VIII. (ed. Brewer and Gairdner) :

I. "A book of prests of money in Seland to shipmen by Lelegrave's bidding, and writ- ing for the King's business done per Semper." Various sums paid to shipmen in Zealand by LeJegrave's bidding from 3 Aug. to 15 Sept. To Bowen Adrien at Midilborowe by Wm. Beynam, To Adrian Bos, by Semper and Beynam, 36. 5s. Fl. Each payment is signed by the mark of the receiver. (14 pages.) Date 1530.

2. Certificate by Robert Ross, curate of Watford, Line, dioc., 18 April, 1537, that he has heard the confession of Katharine Yngram and administered the sacrament to her. Signed in the same hand : Robertus Semper. (In Latin, small paper, 1 page.) This person is described as "Semper alias Ross " in the index.

The next reference is in the * Acts of the Privy Council,' " At the Sterre Chambre, the

vij th of Maye, 1550." "A warraunt to

to paie unto John Sely and Bartholomew Semper Ivij 11 xviij 8 viij d due unto them for water cariages in the Kinges Majesties service to the fortificacions of Alderney."

The only other mention of this name which at present I have come across is in Bryan's 'Dictionary of Painters and Engravers,' in which an account is given of G. Semper, a

celebrated architect, who was born at Ham- burg in 1804. One of his principal works was the theatre at Dresden. In consequence of political troubles he came to England, and was made an Associate of the Royal Academy. In May, 1879, he died rather suddenly at Rome. CHR. WATSON.

DUCIEMORE (10 th S. iv. 328). "Moor" being the Anglo-Saxon mor waste land, or land rendered waste by water, would not Ducie- more be merely the moor appertaining to one of the name of Ducie? Although it is not apparent from gazetteers at hand in which county Duciernoor is situated, it is perhaps remarkable that there is a Moreton in Staffs and a Moreton-in-the-Marsh in North-East Gloucestershire, in which county is Tort- worth Hall, the seat of the Earl of Ducie, whose ancestor Matthew Ducie Moreton (son or grandson, apparently, of Sir Robert Ducie, founder of the family) was created, in 1720, Lord Ducie, Baron of Moreton in the county of Stafford. The Tortworth barony was one of subsequent creation to that of Moreton in Staffordshire. J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.

"DRINKINGS": "DRINKING TIME" (10 th S. iv. 506). Halliwell says of "drinking" : "This term is now applied to a refreshment betwixt meals taken by farm labourers." "Leven," "levener," "leven o'clock/' "bever," and "lowance" are all used to cover a slight snap in the field, and mean any trivial refreshment taken between regular meal- times. Then, again, we find " to drink by word of mouth," which often happened at these times. A bottle of beer was carried into the hayfield, and several workers would search fora vessel to pour the precious liquor into, but the search might be unsuccessful ; then it was agreed "to drink byword of mouth " in other words, to imbibe direct from the orifice in the bottle. This gave the advantage to the one who drank first, more especially if he was accustomed to this mode of swallowing. It did not ensure an equal division of drink to all in the company. The saying has a kind of classic origin, as it was used by Shad well, who succeeded Dry den as Poet Laureate. W. W. GLENNY.

Barking, Essex.

ANTONIO CANOVA IN ENGLAND (10 th S. iv. 448, 518). Your correspondent will find in Lectures on Painting and Design/ by B. R. Haydon, the following notice on p. 224 :

'At this 'crise de la bataille' Waterloo was won ; Canova was sent officially to Paris, to arrange the departure of the Apollo, &c., for Rome [1815]. My intimate friend, Hamilton, met Canova at the Duke's in Paris : the Elgin Marbles were often the