Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/81

 10 s. vii. JAN. 26, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

61

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 36, 1907.

CONTENTS. No. 161.

NOTES : Orwell Town and Haven, 61 Magdalen College School, 63 Granger annotated by Caulfleld, 65 Raja-i- Rajgan Statues of the Georges Shakespeare's Residence New Place, 66" Wroth " Uncatalogued London Records in the Guildhall Librarj " Umpire " " Shadow-catcher," 67.

QUERIES : " Mitis" " Moke " " Mulatto " Royal Kepier School, Houghton-le-Spring Subsidy Rolls, 68 Wyberton, Lines Bishop Island, South Pacific Rowe's 'Shakespeare' "Bossing" Authors of Quotations Wanted Sir John Gibson's Portrait, 69 Sussex Poll- BooksLittleton's ' History of Islington,' 70.

REPLIES : Bidding Prayer, 70 Roman Catholic Priests buried in London Post Boxes, 72 Baskish Folk-lore about Souls Isle of Man and the Countess of Derby "Thistolow" 'Cantus Hibernici,' 73 Scott Illustrators Dorothy Paston or Bedingfield " King Copin "Towns unlucky for Kings, 74 'The Christmas Boys' Cam- bridge Booksellers and Printers, 75 John Newbery's Grave Queen Victoria of Spain : Name-Day, 76 Pen- nell's 'Life of Leland '" Plump " in Voting, 77 Cam- bridge University Chancellor West Indian Military Records Palimpsest Brass Inscriptions "Posui Deum adjutorem meum" Riming Deeds, 78 Reynolds's Por- traits of Miss G re ville Guevara Inscriptions: "Potie" Warden Romney's Ancestry, 79.

NOTES ON BOOKS : - ' The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal' 'The Riot at Trinity College, 1611' Massee's ' Text- Book of Fungi.'

Notices to Correspondents.

ORWELL TOWN AND HAVEN.

(Concluded from p. 23.) As regards the situation of the port of Goseford, there is a document dated 1341, 8 Aug., in which it is stated that a ship sailing from the port of Orwell to Colchester was driven by stress of weather into the port of Goseford (Cal. of Close Rolls, Edward III.). Mr. Marsden quotes from the old English sailing directions published by the Hakluyt Society, but the old German-Dutch ' Sea- Book,' edited by Karl Koppmann (Bremen, 1876), has evidently escaped his notice, although the sailing directions given therein for the east coast of England from Flam- borough Head (Vlamberger hovede) to Dungeness are highly interesting both as regards Orwell and Goseford. According to the modern editor, the two known MSS. are both of the sixteenth century, but are copied, at least in parts, from older sources. In chap. xiv. par. 28 we are first of all told that " off Orwell lies an evil sand a German mile from the shore, and the sand does not come nearer than six or seven fathoms at low water," whatever that may mean. This evil sand is shown in Wagenaer's ' Mariner's Mirrour,' lying paral- lel to the coast, and stretching from Orford-

nesse to opposite the Pole Head (now Landguard Point). The ' Sea-Book ' then mentions the great castle with many towers at Orford, and describes. Orfordnesse.

In par. 29 we are told that " if you wish to sail with a heavy ship into Orwell, you must take half a tide, when there is enough depth to get over all sands." Inside and outside lies a shoal (in the entrance) between the shingle bank and the Red Cliff, which shoal dries at low water. The shingle bank lies on the east side, and is flat outside and deep inside. The mariner is further en- couraged not to be afraid of the shingle bank so long as he is in three fathoms of water (unde gy en suit de singele nicht schuwen umme dre vademe).

Par. 30 next gives directions how to get into Orwell (which, as I should have men- tioned before, is always named Norwelle). The mariner is told to sail westward until he sees a large tree, which stands near Harwich (by norden Herwyk) over the water ; and at the north end (nortende) of Harwich stands a great, round, plump tower on the spit of land of the northern shore. When the tree and the tower are so close together that one can just see through between them, " then you are in the deepest channel."

We may skip the next paragraph, which gives directions as to how to get out of Orwell, and proceed to par. 32, which states that if a ship arriving from the west wishes to get into Orwell, it has to sail along till you can see Goseford tower (Gla-evorder toren) west of Bawdsey Cliff (Baldersee Kleff). Full directions are then given for entering the harbour.

Par. 33 finally describes another way of getting into Orwell. In this case one had to sail so far westward that Goseford tower (Glasevorder torne) could no longer be seen on the west side of the haven in the wood, and Orford had to be kept outside Bawdsey Cliff ; and one had to go west-south (westen suden) until one could see a large oak tree standing east of Ipswich (Syweswick), two English miles from Woodbridge (Walden- brugge). The tree was then to be brought to the west of the shingle bank (by westen de Singele).

The sailing directions, I admit, are some- what difficult to understand without a con- temporary chart, but they prove beyond all doubt that Goseford tower was then still in existence and a good landmark for sailors, unless I am mistaken.

Mr. Marsden further mentions the fact that there has long been a tradition among the Harwich people that there was once a