Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 1.djvu/339

 ii s. i. APR. 23, i9io.j NOTES AND QUERIES.

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We find a John Cosnahan Vicar of Jurby in 1575-82, and one of the same name Vicar of Patrick (in which Ballamoar is situated) .1585-1608. But, as a correspondent has already pointed out (p. 213), Santan was the parish where they chiefly served as vicars, William, 1614-18 ; John, 1618-56 ; Hugh, 1667-91 ; John, 1691-1731. The last-named had a son, also called John, who acted as his father's curate for some time ; but on the death of the father the Earl of Derby, as Lord of Man, gave the living to a young curate from another parish. Bishop Wilson was indignant, and at once made amends, and showed the Earl his opinion, by appoint- ing the son, who was without any official position for the time, as one of his Vicars- General, and collating him soon afterwards to the Vicarage of Braddan (Keble's ' Life of Bishop Wilson, 1 pp. 759-60). This John was succeeded at Braddan by his son Joseph (1750-68), who was one of the witnesses to Bishop Wilson's will (Keble, p. 964). Later, Julius Cosnahan was Vicar of Braddan (1785-6). Members of the family were also Vicars of German (1585- 1660) and Malew (1630-33). It seems as if Bishop Wilson had made the above memorandum about his Vicar- General's family to justify his appointment ; that is, to show that the family had been long settled in the island, and that they were people of substance.

John Cosnahan (1754-1819), son of Hugh . and Eleanor Finch, was an advocate, a member of the House of Keys, and High Bailiff of Douglas. In 1790 he went, with another, to London as a deputation from the Keys to oppose the Duke of Atholl in the matter of compensation for the loss of his sovereignty. John Cosnahan was allowed to plead before the House of Commons, and his speech had the end he desired, in .that the Bill was withdrawn. A few months before his death he was appointed Deemster. He is spoken of as "a man of brilliant mind, ready wit, and powerful elocution."

John Cosnahan, a major, fought in the battle of Quebec, 1759 ; he married Lady Janet Scott, daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, but died without issue.

Philip Cosnahan, son of Deemster Cosna- han, distinguished himself as a midshipman on H.M.S. Shannon when she fought the Chesapeake, and was especially mentioned. He was lost on board the sailing packet Lord Hill, with all the crew and other passengers, on 16 Jan., 1819, on her passage to Liverpool from Douglas. He had two other brothers, Hugh and Michael, both also

in the Xavy (see A. W. Moore's ' Manx Worthies ? ). The family does not seem to be represented in direct line on the island now.

ERNEST B. SAVAGE, F.S.A. St. Thomas', Douglas.

By a curious coincidence while I was reading the issue of ' N. & Q., J containing SIGMA TAU'S query, a catalogue of pamph- lets for sale by Mr. John Orr, bookseller, 74, George Street, Edinburgh, came to hand. Among the items described as " Naval,' 1 the following entry occurs.

" Observations on Mariners' Lights in the Channel, Preservation of Lives on Board Steam Packets, &c. By Mark Cosnahan, Isle of Man. Liverpool, 1825. Cr. 8vo, pp. 24, Is."

It is possible this pamphlet may be of some interest to the querist, although not at all likely to afford the information he seeks.

W. SCOTT.

'ALONZO THE BRAVE' (11 S. i. 167, 215, 254). The vindication of MR. WILLOUGHBY MAYCOCK at the last reference is complete so far as he is concerned, but the original query and subsequent replies show that there is a certain amount of obscurity which may as well be cleared up.

The ballad of Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene first appeared in the novel of ' Ambrosio, the Monk, 1 published, as was the fashion then, in three volumes, in 1796 ; it will be found in vol. iii. p. 63. It may be worth mentioning that a portion was set to music as a glee, by Dr. Callcott, organist of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. It was certainly very popular, and found a place in collections of recitations, &c., ; in fact, in the sixties, when " Penny Readings n were all the rage, I remember presuming to recite it, relying pn the indulgence of sympathetic friends instead of an impartial critical audience.

Just as the great Napoleon said that "nothing was sacred to a sapper, ' ? so there are very few pieces that have not enabled parodists to exercise their literary ingenuity in this direction. In Lewis's own copy in the British Museum, where there are alternative readings suggested for two lines in the fourth stanza, there are copies of two parodies : the one entitled ' Pil-Garlic the Brave and Brown Celestine ' induced another, entitled ' Giles Jollup the Grave and Brown Sally Green.'

The entertainer Hugo Vamp introduced a musical version in his entertainment called ' Hugo St. Leon's Stars of the Social Spheres,' with music arranged .by A, St. Amand, published in 1856 in The Musical Bouquet.