Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 1.djvu/355

 n s. i. APR. so, i9io.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

347

(gmrus.

WE must request corresppndents 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.

MAY BASKETS AND JUNE BOXES. There is a May Day custom in some parts of the United States which I do not remember hearing of in England. On the 1st of May the young folks fill baskets with flowers and " cookies " or other toothsome dainties, and hang them on the door-knobs of the friends they delight so to honour, or rather of those who are the most likely to call them in and regale them with good things in return for the compliment. The same thing is done on the 1st of June, boxes instead of baskets being used.

Can any one tell me of the origin of the custom ? Is it an offshoot of the maypole customs, and of the Jack-in-the-green which I remember seeing in the early fifties at Ramsgate in Kent ? One occasion is particularly vivid in my recollection. I was " put in the corner '* for some childish offence committed in the dame's school to which I went. My punishment was easy to bear because I was able to see from a window the Jack-in-the-green and the maypole dancing a sight denied to the better- behaved, but less lucky scholars than

CHARLES WELSH.

Scran ton, Pa.

"As DEAD AS QUEEN ANNE." Would

it not be worth 'while to gather in the

hospitable columns of ' N. & Q.' all that

has hitherto been ascertained as to the origin

of this curious phrase, or at least, since this

! principal point seems to be as yet unsettled,

I to collect there references from various

times and authors, so that the student gets a

firm footing for further research ?

As the ' N.E.D.' does not mention it either s.v. ' Anne ' or ' Dead,* the question

cannot be simple. Berlin.

G. KRUEGER.

JOHN HENNING, SCULPTOR, 1771-1851. Soon after the arrival in England of the Parthenon and Phygaleian friezes Henning began his reduced models of them, restoring the missing parts. The work, which occu- ipied him during twelve years, is stated to have been performed with great skill and minute accuracy. This opinion is borne out by the plaster casts of Henning's labours which are occasionally to be met with in

broken or fragmentary state. The sculptor also modelled in relief the Cartoons of Raphael, a translation naturally not so successful artistically.

Is it known where the original (?wax) models of Henning's efforts are now pre- served ? ALBERT HARTSHORNE.

SCULPTURES TAKEN AT SEA. Is anything known concerning the sculptures mentioned in the following, or the pictures ?

1766. " Now exhibited at the Falcon, in Pains- wick, Glos., from 8 in the morning till 8 in the evening, Mr. Motetts six curious pieces of marble sculptures representing the sufferings of our Saviour, from his last supper to his Crucifixion, in upwards of 400 fine figures in relievo ; being designed as a present to the French King, but taken in the year 1745, and carried into Bristol. They are now highly polished and solemnly ornamented. To which are now added some fine paintings on the same subject done by the most eminent masters, finished in the year 1577, and taken at Vigo in 1702. Admission to Ladies and Gents Is. each, and servants 6d." Ad- vertisement in The Gloucester Journal.

The show, it is believed, passed on to Ross and Leominster.

ST. CLAIR BADDELEY.

ST. MARGARET AND JOAN OF ARC. There are thirteen St. Margarets recorded in the Supplement to Potthast's ' Bibliotheca His- torica Medii ^Evi. J I am anxious to know which of these is the one mentioned in Mr. Andrew Lang's ' The Maid of France ' as appearing to the Blessed Jeanne d'Arc.

EDWARD PEACOCK.

Wickentree House, Kirton-in-Lindsey.

PETER WILCOCK. Can any of your readers give me information about Peter Wilcock, who published a translation of ' The Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow,' from the original of the Venerable Bede, in or about 1818 ? I think that he was a clergy- man, but am not sure. J. PATTERSON.

Sunderland.

BISHOPS' LANDS IN 1660: PROCEEDINGS OF COMMISSIONERS. On 7 Oct., 1660, Charles II. appointed Commissioners to inquire into the sales of bishops* lands that had taken place under the Commonwealth, presumably with a view to settling any disputes that might arise. Are there any records of the proceedings of those Com- missioners in existence, and, if so, where are they to be found ? There are one or two references in the State Papers, but they relate to one property only.

I feel sure there must be some official documents, because Bishop White Kennet in his * Register ' quotes certain " Orders n