Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/613

 10 s. VIIL DEC. 28, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

507

Zetter to the Earl of Mornington of 21 Dec., 1805), while Nelson left Merton to join the Victory at Portsmouth on 13 Sep- tember, the meet ing must have taken place between these dates. See Mahan's ' Life of Nelson,' p. 678 (2nd ed., Sampson Low & Co., 1899). T. F. D.

AGNES AND ANN. The interchangeability of these names is contended for, and instances are adduced, under the heading of ' Shake- speare's Wife,' at 10 S. ii. 428. It will therefore be interesting to genealogists and others to note that, in a case of King v. King decided in 42 Elizabeth, it was argued that Ann and Agnes were " all one name " ; but the Court unanimously resolved that the two names were " several names."

MISTLETOE.

" TILL THE cows COME HOME." The following examples of this proverbial phrase are, I think, worth noting :

" I warrant you lay abed till the cows came home." ' Polite Conversation,' Dialogiie II., a little after the middle, " The Works of Jonathan

Swift with Notes by Sir Walter Scott,"

2nd ed., vol. ix. p. 457.

You may nezoloot till the cows come home,

But ef one of you tetches the boy, He '11 wrastle his hash to-night in hell, Or my name 's not Tilmon Joy !

Last stanza of ' Banty Tim,' p. 22 of 'Little Breeches, and other Pieces,' by Col. John Hay, London (1873 or about).

I think that Col. Hay, who was American Ambassador here a few years ago, published ' Little Breeches,' &c., in the United States with the title of ' Pike County Ballads.'

ROBERT PIERPOINT.

PBE-REFOBMATION TABERNACLE. An ex- ample of one of these now very rare church ornaments is preserved in Milton Abbey, Dorsetshire. It is now placed, not over the Communion table, but against the west wall of the Church. The tabernacle is of oak, richly carved, and shaped in the form of a four-storied spire. It is thought to be the only specimen in England that has survived the Reformation. FRANCIS KING-.

" STALE." To stale, as horses, is said by Prof. Skeat to come from Danish stale. A native origin for the term might be found in Gaelic steall, a gushing spring. A certain spring of this sort in Aberdeenshire is tauto- logically called Still's Well. In Irish steall means a shot from a squirt, which aptly describes the discharge of urine by a horse. JOHN MILNE, LL.D.

Aberdeen.

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.

ST. ANDREW'S CROSS. The St. Andrew's cross in the arms of the see of Rochester is red on white. The St. Andrew's cross of Scotland is white on blue. I should be much obliged if some one would kindly explain this difference. Which is the older ?

MARY OVERY.

COLLAR FOR REPRIEVED CRIMINAL. I have in my possession a metal collar appa- rently made of brass, the size of a man's neck, with a hasp evidently intended for a padlock to be attached. The collar is nearly one inch in depth, and about a sixteenth of an incVi in thickness. Round the outside of the collar is the following inscription : " Aexander Stewart sentenced to death for iheft at Perth 5th Deem. 1701 " ; and on a label attached to the collar, and also made of brass, is inscribed : " perpetua servant gifted by justicia's to Sir J. A. Askien of Alva." '

I understand that in the olden timas criminals who were convicted of minor offences and sentenced to death were sometimes reprieved and given as servants to the lord of the manor or some person of position n the district, the collar to be worn as a sign ~>f perpetual service.

The ony reference I can find is in the third chapter of ' The Antiquary,' in which Scott tells is that Mr. Oldbuck exhibited

"a collar witt the name of a fellow convicted of theft, whose services, as the inscription bore, had been adjudget to a neighbouring baron in lieu of the modern Sccttish punishment, which, as Oldbuck said, sends sucl culprits to enrich England by their labour, and thenselves by their dexterity."

I have ver; little doubt that the collar which I have attempted to describe is a specimen of th> collar referred to by Scott, and I shall be gad to have some information upon the subjtct, and references to other works in which ihe custom is mentioned.

E. P. L.

MARKS AND ITDER FAMILIES. Can you supply me with genealogical details concern- ing the families of the Marks of South Petherton, &c., aid the Inders of Martock, Stapleton, and Loig Load, all in Somerset- shire ? I am veir anxious to trace the parentage of one Mchael Marks, a worker in Portsmouth dakyard temp. 1810-15.