Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/87

 to s. vii. JAN. 26, loo:.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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It will be seen that not only did the Rev. Francis Gastrell demolish " the new build- ing," but also that portion of the old building which existed in the time of Shakespeare. In fact, according to the evidence of this impartial traveller, the reverend gentleman did not leave one stone upon another ! This I did not realize ; I always thought that .some portions of the old building remained in situ. RICHARD EDGCUMBE.

Edgbarrow, Crowthorne.

" WROTH." Thus far lexicographers seem to ignore " wroth " in its substantival character, just as they do not lend their sanction to the practice of the lady novelist -who courageously uses " wrath " as an adjective. " Her Grace was very wrath " may not deserve recognition for its literary quality although, after all, " wrath " as thus used is not very far off the earlier adjectival spelling " wraith " but " my wroath " in ' Merchant of Venice,' II. ix. 78, should not be absolutely ignored. It perhaps finds its place owing to exigencies of rime, a consideration which may also dispose of several corroborative examples in Hudibras.' In I. i. 900 Butler makes his hero observe, in deliberate discourse with Ralpho :

In northern clime a val'rous knight I)id whilom kill his Bear in fight, And wound a Fiddler : we have both Of these the objects of our wroth, And equal fame and glory from Th 1 attempt, or victory to come.

Again, in I. ii. 450 Colon and his horse recall the symmetry and the ineffable grace of the Oentaur :

One spirit did inform them both, The self-same vigour, fury, wroth.

In the same canto, 1. 737, the effect on Hudibras of Talgol's scathing deliverance is thus described :

At this the knight grew high in wroth,

And lifting hands and eyes up both,

Three times he smote on stomach stout,

From whence, at length, these words broke out.

These repetitions, even if the rime is the same in every case, added to the Shake- spearean example, are not without signi- ficance as to the practice of the seventeenth century. THOMAS BAYNE.

UNCATALOGUED LONDON RECORDS IN THE GUILDHALL LIBRARY. Those inter- ested in the study of London topography may care to have their attention drawn to the fact that there are in the library of the Corporation of London a large number of

old deeds relating to the City parishes to which no catalogue references exist. They consist of the major portion of those deeds which passed out of local custody into the hands of the City Parochial Foundation as a consequence of the passing of the City Parochial Charities Act some years ago, and which were afterwards transferred to the Guildhall as being no longer of substantial value, having lapsed. There are some hundreds (if not thousands) of the deeds, relating to every quarter of the City, and yielding much interesting topographical information. They date, generally speaking, from 1560 to 1760, though a few of earlier and later dates are included. Deeds relat- ing to the rebuilding of the City after the Fire are especially numerous. Many of them of various periods bear interesting autograph signatures of mayors and alder- men of renown (these generally appear on the backs, being included in the witnesses) ; while some few other celebrities' signatures also occur.

The deeds appear to have been for some considerable time in the Guildhall, though it has not yet been found convenient to catalogue them. -A full index nominunt et locorum is, I believe, meditated, but its compilation is indefinitely postponed for various cogent reasons. If the committee could ultimately see their way to printing a descriptive catalogue on the lines of those issued by the authorities of the Record Office, a useful purpose would, in my humble opinion, be served, as the deeds cover a period for which no similar index (as regards any other collection) exists, so far as I am aware.

WILLIAM McMuRRAY.

" UMPIRE." An early use of the word " umpire " in its modern sense appears in William Langland's ' Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman' (1332-99). passus \. 1. 34 : And named for him a noumpere that no debate

nere ; For to try this chaffer betwixen them three.

CLIFTON ROBBINS.

" SHADOW-CATCHER " = PHOTOGRAPHER. Alternative trade terms often baffle in- quirers, through not being recorded at the time of their introduction. I notice a firm of photographers in Bishopsgate Street are now describing themselves as " Shadow- catchers." A note of this in ' N. & Q.' now may perhaps save much speculation hereafter. G. YARROW BALDOCK.