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NOTES AND QUERIES. en s. i. MA*. 5, 1910.

wills, &c.) under the Probate Act of 1857. It will hardly be credited that, notwith- standing the fact that these records date back (as regards the Commissary Court) to as early a date as 1475 a clear half -century before the Reformation no access to them is permitted under existing regulations, no matter what the circumstances may be!

I speak from actual experience, having pressed the point to its fullest extremity in connexion with the above and other matters relating to rny local history, which I have every reason to believe could be considerably augmented from the records in question. Speaking again from experience, I can vouch that, were the records remaining in the custody of the ecclesiastical authorities, no obstacle would be placed in the way of their reasonable consultation for an accre- dited purpose.

Prior to the transfer of the records the venerable and learned antiquary Archdeacon Hale edited a couple of all-too-small volumes of excerpts from their folios, known briefly as Hale's ' Precedents? and ' Proceedings,' from which it appears that they are rich in references, not merely to the numerous offences which formerly came within the cognizance of the ecclesiastical law, but also to such matters as relate to the biography of the early clergy and citizens, the fabric and ornaments of the parish churches, the old signs and buildings, &c.

It is, in short, clear that the records are of the utmost historical interest and value, and for them to remain altogether closed to the literary worker is an anomaly which I trust will not now be suffered longer to continue.

By way of appendix I may add that inventories of the records of the eccle- siastical courts appear in the old reports on the public records, particularly in that for 1837. WILLIAM McMuRRAY.

PRINTING IN BLACK-LETTER OR OLD ENGLISH. Can any of your, readers tell me the origin and meaning of ft, constantly occurring in early, or perhaps I ought to say late, black-letter typography, e.g., in the Shakespeare quartos, in Holinshed, in ' The Shepherd's Calendar, J &c.? To my know- ledge, this double letter with its peculiar acute accent occurs only in the printing of works in the English language, and those in black-letter; never in roman or italic characters. The flj is common in black- letter founts of the period, but I have never seen it with an accent. HORACE HART.

Oxford.

" TYRPRYD." In 'A Boke of Presi- dentes' (printed by Richard Tottyll in 1559), which Antony Wood ascribes to Thomas Phaer, is printed (ff. 54-6) ' An Indenture of sale with a repurchase.' The compiler notes :

" This dede is commonlye vsed when a man layeth his landes to morgage to another, and couenanteth to pay himby a certain day vnder payne of forfayture. And so in case the day be broken, the landes are as sure to the lender of the money, as if it wer a playn bargayn or a sale. It is also very good in Wales, where they vse to pledge lande called Tyrpryde." I shall be glad to know the meaning of this word, with (if possible) earlier and later evidence in support.

ROBT. J. WHITWELL.

Oxford.

MONTHS : THEIR UNEQUAL DIVISION. What attempts or suggestions have been made to abolish the unequal division of the months? This question has surely been brought up before in England.

E. DE WARTEGG.

Riviera -Palace, Nice.

WRANGLER. Has the word Wrangler as designating a candidate for mathematical honours, ever been used at any English university other than Cambridge? Where may be found the most nearly complete his- tory of the mathematical competition in question? J. D. M.

Fair View, Texas.

[' A History of Mathematics ' by Mr. W. W. Bouse Ball, a former Second Wrangler, would probably supply the best information.];

VIRGINIA, 1607. According to ' The Encyclopaedia Britannica,* vol. xxiv. p. 260,. the first permanent English settlement in America was made at Jamestown, Virginia, 13 May, 1607, by one hundred settlers sent from England by Sir Thomas Gates and Company, who had obtained in April, 1606, a charter from James I. to plant two- colonies in Virginia. Where can the names of the hundred settlers be found recorded?

W. C. L. F.

' WHO KILLED POOR COCK ROBIN? '- I should be pleased if any of the readers of ' N. & Q.' could tell me who was the author of the nursery rime ' Who killed Poor Cock Robin? ' and the date and name of the book in which it first appeared. BIRD-LOVER.

" CONGDON'S PLYMOUTH TELEGRAPH."- In The Globe of 18 February was reprinted an extract from its own issue of 18 February, 1811, describing the wreck at Plymouth