Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 1.djvu/175

 n 8. i. FEB. 26, 1910.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

167

155; iii. 361, 433; v. 381 ; vi. 4, 124, 195, 302, 406, 446 ; vii. 165 ; viii. 62, 161, 242, 362, 423 ; ix. 224, 344, 443 ; x. 24, 223, 324, 463 ; xi. 25, 163, 325; xii. 105, 183, 303, 362.]

" ACCLAMATION " = UNOPPOSED PARLIA- MENTARY RETURN. " Acclamation n as meaning an unopposed return to a repre- sentative Chamber a meaning not to be found in either ' H.E.D.* or ' The Century Dictionary,' though somewhat indicated in the latter is to be noted in The Halifax Herald of Nova Scotia for 17 January, which recorded that, " including the Accla- mations, the Tariff Reform Party in Great Britain, makes a Net Gain of Fifteen as a Result of the Voting on Saturday.'*

POLITICIAN.

THEATRICALS IN MARGATE. The following notes will supplement those relating to Margate and other Kentish towns printed by COL. FYNMORE, ante, p. 65.

As early as 1730 Mr. Dymer's company of comedians visited Margate in June, and remained there three weeks. During that period they played ' The Provok'd Husband,' ' Hamlet,' ' A Bold Stroke for a Wife,' and (for the benefit of Messrs. Dymer and Scudamore) ' Oronoko ; or, The Royal Slave.*

In July, 1755, the Canterbury company of comedians acted ' The Recruiting Office ' and ' A Wife Well Manag'd.' In 1761 they per- formed ' The Suspicious Husband,' to which was added by way of entertainment ' The Minor.'

In May, l76Q,TheKentishGazette announced

Mr- Burton ' manager of the theatre there [Margate], is fitting "up the house in a most elegant taste ; it has a new cieling [sic] and all new painted with new front boxes ; and the scenery entirely new ; and that he has engaged a very good company of comedians, who intend to open soon after his Majesty's birthday."

In 1770 Mr. Burton was still connected with the theatre, and took his benefit on 3 October, when a comedy called ' Country Lasses ; or, The Custom of the Manor,' was presented.

In 1785 two playhouses were catering for the amusement of the public. At the New Theatre, conducted by Mrs. Baker, were presented in July 'The Belle's Stratagem,' with ' The Agreeable Surprize,' and ' A Bold Stroke for a Husband,' with the farce ' The Poor Soldier.'

At the Old Theatre, directed by Messrs. Mate, Hillyard, and Richland, was given in j August a comedy called * The Wonder ! A j

Woman keeps a Secret,' followed by a per- formanqe on the tight rope and slack wire by Mrs. Richards and Miss Andrews.

In 1786 an Act to license a playhouse within the town and port of Margate (26 Geo. III. c. 29) was passed, and on 21 September in that year the foundation stone of the present theatre was laid, the inscription on the stone being as follows :

" The Theatre Royal. This is the first stone laid, attended by the Brethren of the Freemasons of the Thanet Lodge, by the Proprietors Thomas Robson and Charles Mate, September 21, A.D. 1786, A.L. 5786, in the Reign of George the Third. William, Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master."

The theatre was opened on 27 June, 1787.

W. J. M.

' ALONZO THE BRAVE.' May I point out that MR. WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK is in error in ascribing (ante, p. 115) the words of ' Alonzo the Brave * to Sam Cowell ? ' Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene,' was written by Matthew Gregory Lewis, the notorious author of ' The Monk. 1

WALTER B. KINGSFORD. United University Club.

Is MR. WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK right in attributing the composition of the words of ' Alonzo the Brave l to Sam Cowell ? I always unders tood that M. G. Lewis (" Monk Lewis ") was the author, and that the ballad appears in his * Tales of Wonder.'

L. A. W.

Dublin.

SEDAN - CHAIR CARRIERS : MATTHEW RIDLEY. The last of the old sedan-chair carriers of Bath Mr. Matthew Ridley has just passed away. In his youth, says a contemporary, he wore the quaint costume tall hat and long coat which all sedan- chair carriers affected, and which some old frequenters of Bath may still remember. The bath chair gradually superseded the sedan, and the latter is now only to be seen preserved as a curiosity.

Mr. Ridley was seventy-nine years of age, and claimed to be a descendant of Bishop Ridley, who was burnt at the stake at Oxford in 1555.

FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.

NEW SOUTH WALES IN AMERICA. In the map prefixed to William Gordon's ' History of the American Revolution, 1 vol. i., Lond., 1788, this name is given to a tract of country between 85 and 90 west longitude, and about 5 north of Lake Superior.

RICHARD H. THORNTON,